


Frozen III: Apocalypse

by AshtynJones



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Apocalypse, Big secret about Anna's past, Demon who wants to enslave the world, Final Battle, Hans is back, Peril, Post-Frozen 2 (2019), Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:48:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27408334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshtynJones/pseuds/AshtynJones
Summary: As Anna learns the shocking secret of her past, Elsa must work to fight a millennia-old monster bent on controlling the world.Let me know in the comments your opinions and what does/doesn't work.Also, I write my own song lyrics, so let me know when you come across those any suggestions you have.NOTE: AS MUCH AS IT MAY FEEL LIKE I OWN THESE CHARACTERS, THEY ARE. NOT. MINE. THEY ARE OWNED BY DISNEY.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney), Elsa (Disney)/Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood)
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

Sparks fly. In the fire, a log falls, crumbling to ash as it dies. Its death is not pointless, however; it yields warmth to those around it, warmth much needed during disturbing times.  
“It’s only a matter of time,” King Agnarr says lowly.  
“A matter of time till what?” Queen Iduna responds, not paying attention to her husband. Rather, she is staring at the ceiling above, tired and sleepless in the bed next to Agnarr.  
“She’s going to want to know,” Agnarr explains. “She’ll ask if she has powers, too.”  
“Well, what can we do?” Iduna wonders. “It’s not like we can lie to her.”  
“But haven’t we already?”  
“What do you mean?”  
Agnarr says nothing, his silence speaking volumes.  
“We lie here without sleep, every night,” Agnarr complains, “tossing and turning, wondering if we did the right thing.”  
“We did,” Iduna assures. “Don’t worry.”  
“And yet I do. Is there nothing that can bring me a moment’s peace? If she finds out about her past, questions will be raised. She won’t trust us. She’ll spend her entire childhood trying to figure out how to use them. Even if there is no threat.”  
“Agnarr--”  
“And what if there is a threat? Maybe we should have listened to them.”  
“What was done cannot be undone. Instead, we adjust for the future. Whatever happens, happens.”  
“Mama! Papa!” A distant voice calls from downstairs.  
“Oh, no,” Agnarr murmurs as he and Iduna leave the warmth of the bed for the unknown chill downstairs.  
They run to where they believe the call originated. Shut doors block the couple from the grand hall. They struggle to open them; the doors are as if frozen shut. When they finally enter the hall, snowy hills and pillars decorate the room, and frosty ice with jagged patterns covers every surface.  
“Elsa, this is getting out of hand,” Agnarr runs to the focal point of the scene: his eldest daughter, Elsa, holding her unconscious younger sibling, Anna.  
“It was an accident,” Elsa defends herself. “I’m sorry, Anna,” she hugs her sister.  
Iduna takes Anna into her own arms. “Oh. She’s ice cold,” she realizes worriedly.  
“I know where we have to go,” the king becomes determined.  
*~*~*~*  
“Fear will be your enemy,” Grandpabby tells Elsa, closing his frightful visions as the princess seeks solace in the person of her father.  
“No. We'll protect her,” Agnarr says. “She can learn to control it, I'm sure. Until then, we'll lock the gates. We'll reduce the staff. We will limit her contact with people and keep her powers hidden from everyone. Including Anna.”  
“We can still play together, right?” Elsa tries to find any spark of hope she can.  
Agnarr and Iduna share the same sorrowful expression. Elsa sees this and starts crying, trying not to.  
“I know,” she says. “I don’t want to hurt her again.”  
“We know.” Agnarr hugs Elsa. “Let’s go. We need to be ready for tomorrow.”  
The family gets up and leaves, not saying another word. Agnarr manages a weak smile at Grandpabby to thank him for his help. Other than that, no communication goes on.  
*~*~*~*  
Agnarr and Iduna fall tiredly back on their bed.  
“It had to happen,” Agnarr rubs his eyes. “It just had to happen.”  
“The important thing is she’s going to be okay,” Iduna expresses optimism.  
“That’s true, that’s true,” Agnarr agrees. “If anything, really, it might help her.”  
“Wait, what?” Iduna is confused.  
“Think about it. If she doesn’t know Elsa has powers, she won’t ask about herself. She won’t learn about her past.”  
Iduna sighs. “As good as that is, I can’t bear the thought of them spending their childhoods separate from each other. They love each other.”  
“I am as disappointed as you are, if not more so. I just wish we could find a way to cast out her powers.”  
“Whose?”  
“Preferably both, but Elsa’s,” Agnarr confirms. “No magician could help, not even Grandpabby. We need to find its source. That could be the clue we need to get rid of her powers.”  
“As special as they are, we have seen the danger. It’s for the best to try to find the source to use it to destroy her powers. I will use what I know of the spirits to locate it.”  
“And when we find it, at the least, I want answers. At the most, I want her powers gone.”  
*~*~*~*  
(Begin flash-forward) The metallic sound of an unsheathed sword echoes in a dark, gloomy room.  
“Anna, this is crazy,” Kristoff warns his wife as she grabs a shield to go with the sword in her right hand.  
“Are you thick?” Anna asks Kristoff, shoving the weaponry at him and going back to rummage through old wooden chests.  
“I’m just saying,” Kristoff tries to explain, “You can still run. Let me fight. I can’t lose you again.”  
“No,” she says strictly, not looking up from her search. “We stand our ground. We defend everything we’ve worked so hard to earn. He won’t win.”  
Anna throws a helmet over her shoulder, which Kristoff catches, despite his arms being full.  
“It’s a suicide mission,” Kristoff informs, growing angry.  
“Not if no one gets killed,” Anna says. She shuts the chest, stands up, and looks out the lone window as the sun’s last rays go out.  
“Anna, I know you’re the queen and all,” Kristoff argues, “but this. This is crazy. You can’t take on this guy.”  
Anna turns around. Kristoff sees the worry mixed with determination in her eyes. For the first time, he feels scared-- scared at the possibility of losing Anna, or Elsa, or any of those he calls family.  
“It’s all going to be okay, Kristoff,” Anna says, trying to keep her cool to maintain her husband’s current level of anxious calm. She walks right in front of him and takes the helmet. She polishes it with her sleeve’s end at the side of her wrist, and puts it on Kristoff’s blonde head.  
“What if it’s not?” Kristoff wonders aloud. “What if everyone dies?”  
“We’re not going to die,” Anna says, shaking off the possibility. Looking Kristoff squarely in the eye, she commands, “I’m going to help how I can, and you can, too. You’re going to be fine. I’m going to be fine. We’re all going to be fine. No one is going to die. Now let’s go and finish what we started.”  
(End flash-forward) *~*~*~*  
("Present day") “Tell him to stop,” Elsa whispers to Anna, “Or I’m going to do something about it.”  
“Give this to him,” Anna whispers back. “It’s his wedding day.”  
“It’s yours, too,” Elsa argues, “and you’re entitled to enjoy it.”  
“I’m-- Oh, it looks like he’s wrapping up.”  
Anna and Elsa clap, along with the rest of the seated congregation. They all are around circular tables, plates at each spot, some finished, some with a bite or two left. These are set up in the throne room, more commonly known to the common culture as the room where an infamous party was held after an infamous coronation.  
“Thank you,” Sven says to the crowd through Kristoff’s thrown voice. “Thank you very much. I’m here all night.”  
Kristoff walks off the small stage to sit beside Anna. Sven follows and sits at his spot. Two chairs had to be removed to make room.  
“That took forever,” Elsa criticizes harshly, stirring nothing with her fork.  
“Did it?” Kristoff wonders. “It felt to me like only a few minutes.”  
“It was forty-five minutes,” Olaf confirms, giving Kristoff a stopwatch. “If I were best man, I would’ve said more in half the time.”  
“I’m sure of it,” Kristoff goes along.  
“If we’re going to have dessert before morning comes,” Anna tells Elsa, “you’d better get up on that stage and say your speech.”  
“Probably,” Elsa agrees. “It’s not like half the speech time was wasted.”  
She gives Kristoff a look.  
“I think,” Kristoff shares, “that half the speech time should be for the groom’s side and half for the bride.”  
“The bride should get at least two-thirds,” Anna contends. “It’s a scientific fact that women talk more than men, and the speeches should reflect that.”  
“She got that right,” Olaf whispers to Kristoff, who high-fives the snowman under the table.  
The argument is ended by Elsa, who calls “Excuse me” to the ignorant crowd, trying to get their attention. Their ignorance is short, and the chatter quiets almost instantaneously.  
“Um, hi,” Elsa begins. “I’m Anna’s sister. Elsa.”  
“We know!” Someone calls.  
“Good,” Elsa continues. She takes a deep breath, displaying stage fright. “Anna and I didn’t really, um, have the closest of childhoods. But I guess that makes our connection stronger. Slowly building our relationship as sisters instead of being forced into it, and being separated for years, kind of makes us appreciate each other more. Anna, I want you to show the same commitment you’ve had towards getting me to build a snowman, that same commitment to go into your marriage with Kristoff. I know you’ll do just fine. Kristoff… good luck.”  
Claps and laughter ring up from the attendees as Elsa goes back to her seat, sighing a sigh of relief.  
“Well, that’s over with,” Elsa expresses her gladness.  
“Elsa, how long did you have that planned?” Anna asks in wonderment.  
“I was kind of spontaneous,” Elsa confesses.  
“It was beautiful,” Anna compliments. “And concise.”  
“Don’t blame me,” Kristoff defends himself. “Blame Sven.”  
“Wait,” Anna changes the direction of the conversation. “What did you mean when you said ‘Kristoff, good luck’?”  
“He’ll tell you at some point,” Elsa tells Anna.  
“I will?” Kristoff reacts.  
“Some point will come,” Elsa declares. “Because time’s always moving. But the important thing is that we’re there for each other.”  
*~*~*~*  
There for Each Other  
Elsa:  
“Time’s waiting up for no one.  
It goes on without sign of end.  
So we need to cherish the little things  
That wait around the bend.

Like speeches and weddings and fun times,  
Building snowmen and playing charades.  
I find that life’s littlest joys  
Are the biggest, at the end of the day.

No matter what comes,  
We’re there for each other.  
The five of us, someday six?  
As time passes by,  
We’re there for each other.  
We’re really an odd kind of mix.  
I mean, really? Snow and ice powers, queen, mountain man, snowman, and reindeer. Not what really anyone would expect.”

Anna:  
“We’re living life to the fullest.  
We’ll never stop having fun.  
Laughing and playing all day long  
Until the day is done.”

Kristoff:  
“I love spending time with you.  
And by ‘you,’ I mean the whole family.  
Every day is an adventure  
Time passes way too quickly.”

Elsa, Anna, Kristoff:  
“As the days fly by,  
We’re there for each other.  
We’re umbrellas in the rain.  
We’ll help you out,  
‘Cause we’re there for each other  
To take away the pain.”

Olaf:  
“I like to think  
That as the days whiz past,  
That we live each one like  
It will be the last.  
Shenanigans, tomfoolery,  
Whatever it’s called,  
It’s the best activity  
Outside or in the halls.  
The five of us together,  
Four when Elsa’s not here,  
She’s away too much,  
They should more the Forest near.  
‘Cause then it’d be the five of us,  
Sunup till sundown,  
Living life in Arendelle  
Where good times abound!”

Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf:  
“Through sun and snow  
We’re there for each other,  
Enjoying our own company.  
Summer, winter,  
We’re there for each other,  
Even when you’re across the sea.  
Miles away,  
We’re there for each other,  
While our lives go on unknown.  
Weeks out of sight,  
We’re there for each other.  
Where we are is home.”

So, that's the first part. Please comment to let me know what you like/don't like, and your guesses for what happens next.


	2. Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day breaks as our heroes realize just what is on the table, and a villain makes an obviously-ripping-off-Treverrow move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story moves along slowly at this point before we head to the faster pace of the apocalypse.

Two years have passed since the royal wedding. Two fast, yet slow years. The one thing that happens without fail is the rise of the sun, which today shines on Arendelle, a bustling kingdom for its size. Market stalls have lines going for blocks through the streets, fishermen dock to unload their bountiful hauls, and Anna sits down at a desk in her and Kristoff’s bedroom to write. She touches the tip of a feather to ensure its sharpness, and she dips it in a small vial of ink. She brings the makeshift pen down to the tan paper to inscribe upon it whatever it is she wishes to inscribe. Only she knows. At this moment, almost as if planned, a knock is heard on the door.  
“Anna!” A voice calls.  
Anna sets the feather down in the ink and gets up, going to the door with a smile on her face, as she recognizes the voice. She puts her hand on the door’s handle, but then thinks the better of it.  
“What’s the password?” She asks playfully.  
“Come on, Anna,” the voice says. “Just let me in.”  
“What’s the password?” She asks again, with a hint of taunt in her voice.  
The voice sighs and gives in. “Who cares about danger when there’s love?”  
Anna opens the door, almost jumping in place with excitement. The voice’s owner hugs Anna immediately.  
“It’s been too long,” Elsa says, breaking the hug to hold Anna’s arms.  
“Did he finally propose?” Anna asks impatiently.  
Elsa sends snow into Anna’s face.  
“That is for holding the door on me,” she says seriously.  
“Come on, Elsa, did he?” Anna asks. “Is Jacksa officially happening?”  
“Jacksa?”  
“You know, ‘Jack’ and ‘Elsa’ in one word?”  
“No, I know. But you know what that sounds like.”  
“Yeah, I do. Kristoff came up with it.”  
“Of course he did,” Elsa rolls her eyes. “But, while Jack didn’t propose to me, he did give me this.”  
Elsa holds up her right wrist, showcasing a bracelet. Not just any bracelet, but a clear, medium-blue, perfect-circle bracelet, completely flawless.  
“Whoa,” Anna reacts, taking Elsa’s wrist in her hands. “Did you make this?”  
“He did,” Elsa corrects.  
“Kristoff! Olaf! Sven!” Anna screams. “Come see what Elsa--”  
“Quiet down,” Elsa says, pushing her arms down to signal Anna to shush herself. Footsteps from outside are heard, and Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven break into the room.  
“Did Jack finally propose?” Olaf asks Elsa.  
“It’s happening,” Kristoff says, putting his hand on his forehead as if in shock. “It’s finally happening. Jack and I are going to be brothers!”  
“Only in the loosest sense of the word,” Olaf wet-blankets the blonde mountaineer.  
“Don’t turn this around,” Anna tells the boys. “This is Elsa’s moment.”  
“Yeah,” Elsa says, annoyed, “and if you listened for a minute, you’d realize that he did not propose yet. He only gave me this bracelet.” She holds up her wrist. “But it means so much.”  
A short silence ensures, broken by the queen.  
“Well…?” Anna pries at Elsa.  
“Well, what?” She asks, immediately regretting it.  
“Aren’t you going to ask me?” Anna continues.  
“Ask you what?” Elsa tries to prolong Anna’s wish.  
“You know…” Anna attempts to get Elsa to ask.  
“Legitimacy is a great thing to have,” Olaf speaks his mind, “but who cares about legitimacy if it’s true love?”   
“Fine,” Elsa gives in, smiling at her sister’s immaturity over the situation. “Can we have your blessing on our still-pending marriage that you think for whatever reason if going to be very, very soon?”  
“It’s been two years,” Anna replies.  
“Kristoff took three.”  
“Well, no,” Anna states, becoming serious, squinting her eyes a little to act the part.  
“No?” Elsa expresses surprise.  
Anna starts laughing. “Of course you have my blessing,” Anna ends the joke, “and even if you didn’t, you could still do what I… well, what I…”  
“Hans and Anna, sitting in a tree,” Olaf recites the old tune, “F-R-Z-I-Y-N-G!”  
“Come on,” Anna says, taking Elsa’s hand and running between the barricade of man, snowman, and reindeer, “there’s something I want to give you!”  
Kristoff watches the sisters dash down the hall. He looks at his left hand, seeing his simple silver ring.  
“Remember when you were young and in love?” Olaf asks him, putting an arm against Kristoff, crossing his legs, and looking at his fingers in his free hand.  
“Okay, snowman,” Kristoff says, “first off, I’m still young and in love. And second, Anna and I were the first to get married, so, uh… yeah.”  
“Oookay,” Olaf acts confused as Kristoff walks away. “Someone is jealous of--”  
“At least I’m married!” Kristoff calls back, putting his left hand up and pointing his right at it.  
“What’s up with him?” Olaf asks Sven, who responds with a dumbfounded reindeer response.  
*~*~*~*  
Anna giggles as she opens a door with her right hand, continuing to lead Elsa with her left. The room they enter is largely empty, save a chest and a small wardrobe, so small it can fit only one suit or dress, depending on the user.  
“Okay, Anna,” Elsa says, keeping her constant coolness. “What is it you wanted to give me?”  
Anna wordlessly opens the door to the wardrobe. A cloud moves away from the sun, sending sun onto the old, white wedding dress inside the closet.  
“Anna, is this…” Elsa looks at Anna, who gestures her head at the dress. Elsa feels its old-fashioned fabric in her hands, calmly shocked at what she is seeing.  
“Mother’s wedding dress,” Anna explains. “We were going through everything they left behind. You know, decluttering your life. Everyone’s doing it now.”  
“Are they?” Elsa turns her head.  
“Um…”  
“Right.” Elsa turns back to continue examining the dress.  
“Anyway,” continues Anna, “I found this in the corner of Father and Mother’s room. I, of course, am already married, and you can’t remarry someone unless you get a divorce or an annulment first, and you can’t just--”  
“Anna.”  
“Yeah?”  
Elsa gives Anna a look that says to stop rambling and restart storytelling.  
“I can’t get married again,” Anna goes on, “so I thought that when--”  
Elsa looks at Anna.  
“--if you and Jack got married, well, you could wear it.”  
“It’s beautiful,” Elsa comments.  
“I know!” Anna squeals. “And you’re would look so pretty in it!”  
“I’d hope so.”  
“Come on, Elsa. When will you finally see yourself the way I see you?”  
“Okay, Anna. And how is that?”  
“Elsa, standing here, in this room,” Anna begins, taking Elsa’s hands in her, “is a strong, confident, beautiful young lady.”  
Elsa smiles.  
“And you,” Anna adds, eliciting a playful punch in the arm from Elsa. A comfortable silence ensues, as the mimic violence lingers in the minds of the royal siblings.  
“We’re going to have so much fun tomorrow!” Anna squeals with delight.  
“Wait, what?” Elsa responds, lost in thought.  
“I planned a whole day for you and me tomorrow,” Anna replies, skipping ahead down the hall. “We’re going to do so much stuff. Don’t worry, I got Kristoff to take care of the kingdom for me. He knows how to do it.”  
*~*~*~*  
A fire rages in an above-ground stone pit. The night stands silent in the fields around the small, makeshift blacksmith’s hut. A sword is thrown into a bucket which is lowered into the inferno. The weapon is reduced to liquid in the intensity of the heat, and a heavily-gloved hand dips its forefinger and middle finger into the thick glop, raising it to its owner’s face. The appendages rub the metal in an oval on the right cheek of the head, and, upon completion, are given a shake, removing any excess sword remains. As the material slowly drips, a second figure with a small knife removes the runny portions of the quickly-hardening substance on the forehead, forming a near-perfect ellipse. The original fingers lower into the heated sword soup a second time, this time applying it on the lower part of the right cheek. Again, an attendant molds the metal into a form-fitting oval. A third application finds itself on the left side of the face, about an inch from both left eye and nose. To complete the trifecta, the second man forms this spot into a circle, though not immaculately, as circles are difficult to mold.   
“There,” the metal-faced figure declares menacingly. “The solution is found. My scars are covered, and I have a face that will inflict fear into any who dares strike their gaze upon it.”  
The injured tosses a bag of coins at the attendant.  
“Keep it,” the scarred gifts. “I’ll have much more when I am through.” Sighing to himself, he adds, “This is it. What I have worked for is about to come to fruition. It worked once, and it’ll work again. In the morning. Now, I ride!” The man gets on a horse waiting outside the hut and rides off into the dark beyond.  
*~*~*~*  
The sun rises. Birds chirp. The leaves of the green trees are wet with dew, as are the flowers around the base of their trunks. Sunlight finds its way into Anna and Kristoff’s bedroom through a crack in the curtains, falling onto Anna’s face. She does not wake, however; rather, she continues on in her deep slumber, ignorant of the fact that her hair is a mess and her pillow is at her feet. She snores with an open mouth, and a few stray strands of her single-braided hair have found their way into her mouth. The bedsheets have been kicked away overnight, only still in contact with the queen by hanging over her feet and ankles. The covers lay partially over the side of the bed to the right, and onto the other half on the left. The sunbeam moves across Anna, across the no-man’s-land on every bed shared by two, and onto the highest-ranked man in the country, waking Kristoff, whose sleeping habits differ greatly from his wife’s. He springs up as if he had never been asleep. His eyes silently lament the fact that they, too, have to put an end to the sleep that was rightfully theirs, earned by a hard day’s work of doing nothing, save everything. He notices the pillow at the other corner of the bed. Stretching and yawning, he gets out of the bed and walks to the large window. He peaks out, pulling the curtain to the side with one hand and shading his eyes with the other. Various busybodies, though few in number, bustle in the streets, preparing for a day of selling, buying, and fellowship. Kristoff pulls the curtain to its normal nighttime state, making sure no gap is left so as to keep the yellow starlight out. He walks to the foot of the bed and grabs the pillow. He lifts Anna’s head and gives it its soft slab to rest upon; he then pulls her hair out of her mouth and tucks it behind her ear; finally, he shuts her mouth and pulls the covers up close to her chin. He sighs a sigh mixed with sorrow and contentment, sad at the inevitable advancement of the day’s plans made over the previous week, and satisfied with the current state of his life. He would not have it any other way.  
He walks to the door slowly, holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, the world will stop spinning so that he could return to sleep, peaceful sleep, dreamy sleep. He yawns a second time and looks back at the bed longingly, wishing he could, perhaps for eternity, envelop himself in the soft covers, the kind only used now in hotels. Alas, he realizes the truth: he must press on with the day, regardless of his desire for sleep, blissful sleep. He opens the door, now ready and prepared to begin the day and meet its obligations. Unfortunately, his worst fear is met: an anthropomorphic snowman is waiting for this moment which was dreadfully wished to be avoided. Kristoff, as usual, does not want to deal with Olaf’s childlike mind frame.  
“What is it now?” Kristoff asks Olaf sleepily.  
“Do you ever wonder,” Olaf states with a hint of philosophy in his tone, “why frogs croak? Or why lions roar?”  
“It’s in their biology,” Kristoff concedes, rubbing his eyes, adding, “You know early morning isn’t a good time to be philosophic with me. I need maybe… five… hours.”  
“I see,” Olaf says, squinting at Kristoff, despite being wide awake. “I will come to you no later than eleven-thirty, and we will talk then.”  
“Olaf--”  
“Don’t ‘Olaf’ me! Being a plebian of the modern age has its psychological troubles. Of course, being royalty, you wouldn’t know.”  
Olaf canters off whimsically, worrying in his own mind about whatever it is on which snowmen dwell their thoughts.   
Kristoff walks to the wall in front of him to look at the pictures hung upon it, faded as they might appear due to candlelight being the only source of brightness in the hallway. A hint of smile appears on his face and his eyes as he gazes at the pictures. The first, on the left, is a portrait, a realistic rendering of Kristoff with those closest to him: Anna, Sven, Elsa, and Olaf. In the middle is Kristoff with the Trolls, a tough image to obtain, owing to the Trolls’ rambunctiousness and constant failure to listen to direction. On the right is a picture of himself with a clenched fist raised on his right, slightly in front of him. To his right is Anna, looking as happy as one would expect a bride to be. Her own left hand is holding the groom’s arm with her left hand, and flowers in her right. A bouquet of roses and daffodils. Anna’s favorites. The events of that joyous day briefly, yet with painstaking detail, pass through the still half-asleep mind of the ice harvester. He touches Anna’s beaming face with the back of his fingers, wishing he could relive that moment. That moment when he had never been prouder or happier. He knows that Anna is his to keep, and he takes solace in this.   
“I love you, Anna,” he whispers to himself emotionally. Sadly, his contemplative moment must come to an end. Acknowledging this in his own mind, he walks left, head down, towards the spiral staircase leading downstairs. What awaits at the bottom is a list of things to do, checklists to complete, and obligations to fulfill. While these things are not those befitting to a rugged mountaineer, he makes note of the point that if it were not for Anna, he would not have such a life as this. He adjusts his attitude halfway down the staircase to become that of royalty: outward optimism and calm. He is ready to meet the day’s demands, those of his position and his people.  
*~*~*~*  
Light blue walls, periwinkle, stand still in the dawn. They remain unchanging as the bustle of day moves in the rooms around it and streets below it, even inside its perimeter. Unknowingly, they know that the recent constant of a familiar guest residing in their chambers will come to a close, as she has her own demands to meet. Elsa sleeps peacefully, her right cheek against the cool, soft pillow, as she has habitually done for every night as long as she can remember. Her eyes wake after a few blinks; even in sleep, she knows what time it is, and that it is time to call the time of starry darkness complete. She sits up, moving her hands over her eyes once upwards, as if trying to glue her eyelids above her eyes to prevent herself from that occurrence that is all too common to the human race. She looks at the nightstand on her right, and leans over to open the small, ornately decorated drawer. Inside sits her bracelet, obtained the previous day from her lover. Elsa takes the bracelet and slides it on her right wrist. She silently stares at it, its crystal-blue diamond-like material reflecting its wearer. Turning her hand slowly, she examines every part of the bracelet, as if inspecting it to ensure its readiness for sale, or perhaps trade. The blue band is unblemished and shiny, though it will inevitably fade from exposure to the sun as time runs its course. It mirrors its owner, literally and figuratively: a strive for perfection combined with the calm of tranquility which only comes with inner peace. It is hers to keep and wear as she pleases, and her excitement is immeasurable to show it off to everyone. However, she must ignore this desire, as it would be unbecoming of a former queen and a spirit to run to every living soul and share what is going on in her own life. Rather, she must attend to the needs of other people on most days. But today is not like other days. It is her vacation from being guardian of the Enchanted Forest, and she is going to enjoy it. In fact, she is going to spend time with her favorite and only sister, a day always eagerly anticipated by both sides. Her sympathy for her brother-in-law, having to deal with running a kingdom by himself for a day, a task he will easily accomplish, is ignored in wait of the impending hour’s happenings. She looks to her door and gets out of bed to approach it, ready to start the day with a boldness for the new that resides within those experienced with adventure and danger. She swings the door open, having already forgotten of the chambers at her back. Unnoticed, however, is her own creation, eagerly anticipating this moment.  
“Elsa,” Olaf gets the attention of the named.  
“Yes, Olaf?” Elsa responds, trying to be receptive to the views another might have on life.  
“Why would anyone,” Olaf wonders, “ever spend money on things besides necessities? If they aren’t necessary, why bother?”  
Elsa looks at her bracelet and chuckles, not looking up from her left hand. “Some people want to have things to enjoy.”  
“That answer came a lot more easily than I thought it would.”  
“Okay, Olaf. I’m going to go get breakfast now. Do you want to get some?” Elsa inquires.  
“No, not until later,” Olaf denies. “I need a little time after waking to let the ol’ engine get running.”  
“Your insides are made of snow,” Elsa points out.  
“That’s true. But it still takes a while,” Olaf defends himself.  
Elsa smiles and proceeds in the direction of the spiral staircase recently traversed by Kristoff, passing the pictures on the way, but paying no attention to them.  
*~*~*~*  
Olaf remains standing where Elsa left him, in a hall outside her bedroom door. He knows that anyone’s private quarters are private, so he shuts the ajar door in an act of temptation prevention, as, despite common sense, he wishes to ransack the room, as anyone would when it is determined that something is off limits. He skips and hums up the hall, ignorant of all trouble in the world, not caring to think that crime may exist or evil may lurk. Instead, he exists in his own mind, living his life as he sees fit, regardless of what others think about him. His relationships with those whose opinions actually matter to him are different and strong. With Anna, he can be quirky, playful, and even philosophical, knowing the queen can take it in stride. Elsa, who brought him into existence five years ago, is like a playmate. She is his favorite to host snowball fights, ice skating sessions, and anything else a snowman might find recreational. Kristoff is like an older brother, who tolerates but does not appreciate any nagging thoughts or questions the younger may have. In fact, Olaf might bug him on purpose, intent on generating a negative reaction from Kristoff, a source of constant amusement. Finally, with Sven, Olaf can be his truest self. Curiosity and demands to not bother the reindeer; in fact, he appreciates Olaf’s company, as his original owner’s jobs of administration keep him busy. Olaf’s life is as exciting as he might want it to be, and with those he loves all around him, he has no reason to desire anything else.  
*~*~*~*  
As usual, Anna is the last to wake. Every morning, it is the same: Kristoff jolts out of bed and leaves the bedroom, gifting Anna a few precious minutes to have all the covers and pillows to herself. Of course, being the heavy sleeper that she is, this is unnoticed. This small, seemingly insignificant daily occurrence reflects Anna’s personality. She presses on in life, unaware of what is happening around her, so as long as it does not pertain to her. What Kristoff does is his own business, so long as it does not involve herself. Even when matters relate to her, so long as they are not important or potentially damaging, does she feel the need to become involved. After an extra hour in bed by herself, a knock is heard on the door, as it is every morning, day in and day out.  
“Queen Anna?” Kai, the head attendant, attempts to wake the sleeping ruler. No answer, as per the norm.  
“Queen Anna?” Kai has to ask again, this time a little louder, tapping on the door twice more to ensure any intentional noise he makes might bring the sleeping out of nighttime’s dreary spell.  
“Queen Anna!” Kai calls loudly. It is not quite a shout, but definitely noisy enough to accomplish his goal.  
“What is it?” Anna calls back, sitting up in bed, stretching, without opening her eyes.  
“It is seven o’clock, your majesty,” Kai informs. “It is time you start your day.”  
“That’s… good to know…” Anna responds, slipping back off to sleep without laying back down.   
Kai grunts in frustration and looks around, hoping to find something to use to bring the queen to attention. He sees his own foot and kicks low on the door. Where he kicks, there is a small divot in the wood. Not from this quick strike, but from being impacted once a morning, each morning, for the previous two years.   
“I’m coming!” Anna wakes up immediately and straight-up yells at Kai, who walks away unoffended. He is used to being treated like this every morning, and is no longer hampered by it. What he looks forward to, however, is the daily apology he receives from a regretful queen. Both know that the same tradition will be repeated again the next morning, and they find solace in the fact that this routine almost never changes.  
What has changed, on the contrary, is Anna’s relationships with those around her. She can still taste the hair in her mouth, but it is not present, owing to her husband having lovingly removed it for her. She loves Kristoff for the little things: taking the hair out of her mouth, which becomes unhinged overnight; agreeing to run Arendelle for a day so that she may spend time with her sister; discreetly swapping their dessert plates if he sees that his serving is bigger than hers; things like that. Even though they had a rocky start, they found mutual comfort within one another, the kind only felt by two people who were made for each other. Anna had found true love, though not without first obtaining familial love lost so long ago. After being struck in the head by Elsa’s powers, Anna grew up believing that her sister shut her out for no apparent reason. Despite this, Anna still loved her, and tried to get the best out of what she had. When she finally got her relationship with her sister back, she became determined never to lose it, and to make up for all the time of a lost childhood. They did such childish things as building snowmen, drawing pictures, playing tag and the like. Yes, Anna and Elsa share the closest bond that two siblings ever had. One thing makes Anna scared, and it is the thought that either of these relationships could be gone in an instant. She ignores this fear and presses onward, bringing out the best in everybody and herself.   
Upon realization that she has a full day planned for herself and Elsa, Anna springs out of bed and dashes to the wardrobe in her room, taking out a dress carefully selected for the day. She has not worn red in a long time, and hopes to generate a reaction of shock from her sister. The brown trim on the dress enhanced its redness altogether, and the occasional note of green gives it a Christmassy, oriental look.  
Within minutes, Anna slides down the railing of the spiral staircase, a practice performed hundreds, nay, thousands of times that she is incapable of failure. She has mastered the art of not crashing into one of the suits of armor that lines the wall waiting at the bottom, a technique subconsciously worked on for years. She sprints for the dining room to grab breakfast as quickly as she can, believing that Elsa has already eaten and is waiting outside. Kristoff sleepily eats at the table, slowly hacking away at a stack of pancakes. Anna ignores the pancakes and other pastries, save the muffins. She chooses a blueberry muffin, this being her favorite flavor. She chooses a banana to eat, as well, and leaves the dining room as rapidly as she had come in, uttering only a quick “Hi, Kristoff” upon entrance and “Bye, Kristoff” upon exit. Anna stuffs the muffin in her mouth while running to have it consumed at the fastest rate possible, and she swallows as she runs across the bridge that leads to the gates. Elsa is waiting at the end. When Anna gets close to her sister, Elsa steps on the ground. A sheet of ice covers the walkway in front of her, and Anna cannot slow herself down in time, and she slips and falls onto the bricks below.  
“What took you so long?” Elsa asks sarcastically, helping Anna up.  
“Hardy, har, har,” Anna reacts.   
“So,” Elsa says. “What did you have planned for today?”  
“Well, first we’re going to go for a walk,” Anna declares, “so I can eat this banana.”  
They start walking into the heart of Arendelle as Anna quickly consumes her banana.  
“There,” Elsa comments. “It took you thirty seconds. Now what are we going to do?”  
“I have an idea,” Anna grins mischievously, “but I don’t think you can handle it.”  
“Oh, come on,” Elsa protests. “I can handle it.”  
“Are you sure?” Anna questions.  
“I’m sure whatever it is,” Elsa states, “is a good idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know in the comments what you like/dislike, and what works/doesn't work.


	3. Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A phantom haunts and confronts Elsa as the end draws nearer.

“Anna,” Elsa says worriedly, “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”  
Elsa is at the top of a low, gradually-descending hill. She is being held by Anna at the waist to keep her from skating prematurely down the ice-covered train tracks she is struggling to keep her balance on.  
“Remember,” Anna warns, “there’s no way you can brake on these.”  
“Wait, what?” Elsa reacts. Anna lets go. Elsa screams in fear as she slides down the tracks, leaning forwards and backwards and swinging her arms to keep from falling as Anna laughs unhelpfully from the top of the hill. At the bottom, the track curves, and instead of turning with the track, Elsa goes forward and crashes into a pile of leaves. Anna takes off her shoes and glides gracefully down the track as if she has had years of practice doing it. With a short leap at the bottom, she pulls Elsa out from the leaf pile and starts pulling the leaves out of her sister’s single-braided hair, contrary to her own hair, which is single-braided as well, but rolled up on the back of her head into a bun.  
“That was a horrible idea,” Elsa comments, taking leaves off her own blue dress, the same color as her bracelet.  
“Okay, maybe it was,” Anna admits, finding a pinecone in Elsa’s hair.  
“Ow!” Elsa understandably reacts to Anna’s ripping the pinecone out of her hair. Fortunately, no remnants of damage are left.  
“Sorry,” Anna apologizes sheepishly. Getting over the situation quickly, she adds, “Come on, I’ve got more for us to do!” She starts running back up the hill. Elsa suddenly feels the presence of something, or someone, watching her. She looks to her right and sees a heavily cloaked figure. Its hood covers all of its face, but it stares at, almost through, Elsa. She can’t peal her gaze away.  
“You coming?” Anna calls down the hill.  
“Uh, yeah,” Elsa replies, hesitantly then willingly following her sister.  
*~*~*~*  
“Anna, you have got to stop coming up with dangerous ideas,” Elsa shares her opinion. She and Anna have crossbows aimed at a target about fifty yards away.  
“It’s perfectly safe,” Anna blows off the danger. “Just as long as you don’t get thrown back. These things pack a punch.”  
Anna readies and aims her crossbow at the red and white target and releases effortlessly. The arrow hits close to the center, a little off to the right. Elsa shrugs and aims her crossbow. She closes one eye and holds it close to her face to get the aim right. She releases, and is thrown back hardly by the weapon, stumbling and falling backwards. Anna goes to help Elsa up, but when she gets close, she turns to see what Elsa is watching. The arrow is still rising and, after a moment, it disappears, like a balloon released to the mercy of the skies. Elsa gets up under her own power and shoots ice at the target, encasing it. As she and Anna walk away from the range as if nothing happened, Elsa senses something. She looks over her shoulder at where she was just standing and sees the cloaked man. While his eyes are covered, he stares straight at her, releasing a bow that hits the bulls-eye. Elsa turns her head and hits Anna lightly with the back of her hand, signaling for her to jog away from the range.  
*~*~*~*  
Anna and Elsa are walking by the docks to their next adventure.  
“Can we not,” Elsa begs, “do something that involves me getting thrown off my feet?”  
“I suppose I can rearrange things,” Anna allows.  
Elsa looks ahead and sees the cloaked figure again, this time standing in the doorway to a bakery.  
“Anna,” Elsa gets her sister’s attention, “I have something I need to do really quick.”  
“Okay, but be fast,” Anna consents. “There’s a lot to fit in on the itinerary.” She walks onto a dock to watch the light, foamy waves as Elsa goes to the figure.  
“What do you want?” She asks as seriously and angrily as possible while trying to keep a low profile.  
“To talk,” a man’s voice replies, grabbing Elsa’s right forearm and pulling her into the bakery. Snow starts swirling around Elsa’s left hand.  
“I wouldn’t do that,” the stranger warns. “This is only a little chat. I’m not going to try to pull anything.”  
“Well, then, to start,” Elsa responds, “You can stop pulling my arm.”  
The man lets go of Elsa. He walks to a table for two in the middle of the bustling bakery and gestures for Elsa to sit in one of the chairs. He sits in the other.  
“Yoo-hoo!” Oaken calls. He takes great pride in his new business scheme. “I will bring menus out to you two in a minute, ya?”  
The man points at Oaken, indicating he heard the businessman.   
“Now,” the cloaked begins. “I’ve got a proposal for you.”  
“A proposal for what?” Elsa inquires, annoyed.  
“Join me, and we can take over Arendelle together.”  
“You’re barking up the wrong tree. I don’t know if you know, but I’m kind of royalty around here, so I can freely make any decision I want.”  
“Oh, I know. You’re royal in many ways. Royally powerful, royally beautiful, royally gifted. Tell me, who has had the pleasure of calling you his lover?”  
“You really expect me to give away personal information to a stalker? Yeah, I saw you. At the tracks. At the range. Now, let me ask you a question. Who are you, and where are you from?”  
“That’s two questions.”  
“Answer them.”  
“I am no one to be messed with, and where I am from is irrelevant.”  
“Then, don’t tell me and just show yourself. I’ve got places to be.”  
“Understood,” the man points a sword under the table at Elsa. “If you look discreetly under the table, you will see a weapon that will quickly take you to kingdom come if you leave.”  
“Let me tell my sister,” Elsa concedes.  
“She can wait,” the man replies. “And don’t even think about using your powers, or I will make this end very badly for you.”  
“You son of a--,” Elsa stands up to strike the man with snow and ice, not caring to finish the insult.   
He does not flinch.  
“Didn’t you just hear me? Settle down, Elsa,” the man calmly reacts. “I know that you’re interested in what I have to say. Please, take your seat and listen.”  
Elsa reluctantly takes the seat and spreads ice over the table.  
“Talk,” she demands. “Or I’m going to make you wish you were sitting in a comfy, cozy, damp prison cell.”  
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the man leans back in his chair. “I am Ond. Spare the jokes, I’ve heard ‘em all. If you’ve ever heard of the Partici Jailbreak, let’s just say that I was the one they broke out. I’m strong. I’m smart. And you’re curious. Let me show you the full reach and grasp of your power, and nothing will stop its growth.”   
“Good. Now listen to me,” Elsa becomes harsh. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”  
“And what would that be?” Ond asks, sitting up straight.  
“Either I escort you to a prison peaceably,” Elsa offers, “or I kill you right now.”  
“Oh, you would, would you?” Ond challenges.  
“Don’t tempt me,” Elsa warns.  
“Fine, then,” Ond allows. “Kill me.”  
“Wait, what?”  
“You heard me right.”  
Elsa stares with a furious look into Ond’s eyes, nay, his soul. He does not care about how people look at him; in fact, he smiles at Elsa, proving what a menace he is.   
“As I was saying,” Ond continues, “join me, and we take over Arendelle, then the world. In quick order. My strategy and your powers; we’d be unstoppable.”  
“No,” Elsa denies.  
“I know your powers continue to grow, even if you have control of them,” Ond goes on. “With me, you could let loose and unleash all the power building up inside of you.”  
“Why would I do that when I have the perfect life right here?”  
“Listen. Return here at five o’clock this evening if you want to change your mind. If you tell anyone about this, I will make you regret it. I can show you how to truly use your power.”  
“You’re coming with me.”  
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Ond looks in the direction of the entrance. Naturally, Elsa turns around to look where Ond is.  
“Elsa?” Anna calls, coming in. “What’s taking you so long?”  
Elsa turns to face Ond again, but he has vanished. Elsa clears the ice from the table before Anna can see and stands up.  
“Elsa,” Anna inquires, walking to her sister “what in the world were you doing in here sitting at an empty table?”  
“It’s-- it was nothing. I’m fine. What else did you have planned?”  
“I think you mean what Elsa did I have planned?”  
Concerned as she is, Elsa manages a smile at Anna’s bad pun and the two exit the bakery. Elsa keeps her talk with Ond under wraps, as she does not want to worry Anna. If anything, Elsa wants to make her younger sister as happy as possible, and telling her about talking with her killer and not doing anything about would be the opposite of helping. No, the last thing Elsa wants to do is worry Anna, so she puts on her most positive, if not happy, face, and she moves on, keeping in mind the meeting time for later that night.  
*~*~*~*  
Anna takes Elsa to a small, grassy patch in the middle of Arendelle where families are playing ring-toss.  
“Okay, you stay here,” Anna commands, talking rapidly, “and I’ll go to the other end.”  
Elsa slowly walks to a red metal pole as Anna runs to a blue one, picking up five rings of all colors and starting to toss them at the target by her sister’s feet. Three miss, and two hit.  
“Okay, Elsa,” Anna enthusiastically challenges, “you got to hit three out of five to win.”  
Elsa unenergetically picks up the rings and tosses them in Anna’s direction. Only a green ring gets close, ricocheting off the goal.  
“Elsa, what’s up?” Anna asks, picking up the rings. “You’re normally really good at this.”  
“I just…” Elsa tries to think of the best way to put her state of mind, “… I have a lot on my mind.”  
“What about? Is it about Jack?”  
“Um… yeah.”  
“‘Cause I can help,” Anna offers, starting to toss the rings back. “Are you concerned about the wedding that we all know is going to happen at some point? Does Jack have a reindeer that he wants to have as his best man? ‘Cause you do not want that.” She nails a yellow ring. “When Sven had to make his speech, if you remember, all that happened was Kristoff shared Kristoff stories for, like, forty-five minutes.” She misses with the green ring.  
“Yeah. I remember,” Elsa agrees.  
“Also, you’ll want to choose the food right,” Anna advises, successfully throwing a blue ring. “Just remember-- when it comes to weddings, soup, roast, and ice cream is the way to go.” She hits the target, but does not score with the red ring. “You’ll want to make sure that you…”  
Elsa tunes out of what Anna is saying as Ond’s words echo in her ears: “Join me, and we can take over Arendelle together.”  
“…And, if you do that, no one will want to see you or Jack ever again,” Anna finishes, winning with the final ring, a pink one.  
“Oh. Okay,” Elsa pretends to have heard what Anna said. “Thank you, Anna.”  
“Don’t forget any of that. I--”  
“My perfect wedding will probably not be the same as yours,” Elsa points out, perfectly throwing the blue ring.  
“See? You’ve got it,” Anna encourages.  
*~*~*~*  
Anna drags Elsa into a library.  
“Let’s find the perfect book,” Anna suggests, “and read it as fast we can!”  
“Um, yeah, sure,” Elsa agrees, not showing much enthusiasm, contradicting her sister.  
Anna runs off into the library’s corridors as Elsa finds a bench to sit on. Ond’s voice comes back to her head: “I know your powers continue to grow, even if you have control of them. With me, you could let loose and unleash all the power building up inside of you.”  
“I found one!” Anna calls from far off in the library, eliciting shushes from other patrons. She skips back to the front where a slouching Elsa is sitting and drops the book into Elsa’s lap. Owing to the book’s size and weight, Elsa sits up straight immediately and picks up the large book to read its title.  
“The Magna Carta? Really, Anna?” Elsa wonders.  
“Okay, there’s absolutely no use in us reading this,” Anna confesses, “but it could still be fun! We could take turns and--”  
Again, the voice of Ond makes its way into Elsa’s thoughts: “My strategy and your powers; we’d be unstoppable.”  
“Elsa, are you okay?” Anna shows concern. “You’re not paying attention.”  
“What? Me? No, I’m fine. Keep talking.”  
“Well, I was thinking--”  
For a third time, Elsa hears Ond: “Return here at five o’clock this evening if you want to change your mind… I can show you how to truly use your power.”  
“Elsa, listen to me!” Anna expresses anger, standing up. “Ever since you went to do whatever it was you did in Oaken’s bakery, you’ve been entirely distant! All you’ve done is shut me out!”  
“Anna, I--” Elsa begins.  
“If you’re going to be like this,” Anna laments, “Then I’m going to do something else!”  
“Anna, calm down,” Elsa tries to quiet the queen. “What you want to do and say is important to me. Really, it is. It’s just… I’ve had lot on my mind.”  
“Elsa, what happened in that bakery?” Anna nudges. “I’m here to help you.”  
“I’m fine, Anna,” Elsa tries to keep her cool. “I just had to run an errand. Now, what were you saying?”  
“I was saying,” Anna switches gears, “that if we read to each other, we might be able to get some different views on it.”  
“That sounds great,” Elsa smiles. “But seriously, Anna? The Magna Carta? That thing’s boring as--”  
“For real, Elsa, give it a chance,” Anna stays optimistic. “It can’t be that boring, can it?” She flips open the book’s cover, revealing that the cover is not a book’s cover, but rather that it is a top to a small container that holds a couple pieces of parchment paper.  
“Yeah, this’ll take us hours,” Elsa comments sarcastically.  
Anna picks up the papers and skims them in her head. “Yep, boring,” she agrees, putting the paper back in the container as she and Elsa start giggling.


	4. Part IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The threat of the phantom is dwarfed by a new threat.

“I have no clue how to do this,” Kristoff worries.  
“I’m sure we can think of something,” Olaf encourages.  
“It’s just impossible,” Kristoff whines. “Leading my kingdom into war like this and putting the queen in danger-- this is stupid.”  
“It’s going to be more stupid,” Olaf whispers, “if you lose.”  
Sven makes a sound that is the reindeer equivalent of a taunting laugh. He sits across from Kristoff and Olaf, who study the chessboard in front of them.  
“Move your--” Olaf begins.  
“I know exactly what you’re going to say,” Kristoff quickly interjects, moving a piece towards the center of the board.  
Sven nudges another piece onto Kristoff’s square. He and Olaf stare at the board in wide-eyed disbelief.  
“Wow,” Olaf reacts, grabbing a notepad and inscribing the results upon its paper.  
“How about twenty-three out of forty-five?” Kristoff bargains with the reindeer, who shakes his head.  
Anna and Elsa enter the room, glancing at the chessboard.  
“Again, Kristoff?” Anna expresses amusement at Kristoff losing, kissing him on the cheek.  
“There is no way,” Kristoff defends himself, “that a reindeer should be this good at chess.”  
“Did you do the day’s work?” Anna inquires.  
“Uh, yeah,” Kristoff confirms. “Everything went okay.”  
“And just okay,” Olaf whispers to Sven, “is not okay.”  
The boys recall the events which took place in Anna’s absence, knowing full well that Anna would not approve.  
*~*~*~*  
“Are you done yet?” Kristoff whispers as loudly as he can to Olaf, who is in the kitchen setting a mousetrap under an apron on a coat hook.  
“All set!” Olaf whispers back, cantering out of the kitchen.  
Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven watch as, through another door, a chef enters the kitchen. He takes the apron from the coat hook, screaming in pain as he grabs it.  
Outside, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven laugh, high-fiving each other, another prank well done.  
Later, Kristoff rolls up a rug.  
“We’re all set!” He gives the thumbs up to Olaf.  
Olaf finishes painting a red line by the wall, a few feet in front of a green line.  
“Good here!” Olaf calls.  
Kristoff picks up a mop and hands one to Olaf.  
“Ready, Sven?” Kristoff asks the reindeer, who is waiting patiently in a large doorway.  
Sven responds positively, and runs into the room, diving forward. Kristoff and Olaf start curling, mopping the floor in front of Sven as he ungracefully glides along, spinning slowly. The mops are stopped at the green line, and Sven slides to a stop between the painted lines.  
“The winners,” Olaf declares, “by total annihilation, the Sons of--”  
Kristoff covers Olaf’s mouth. “You might not want to say that one out loud,” he warns.  
A little later, Kristoff readies an arrow.  
“Come on, come on,” Olaf hypes, “right on the nose.”  
Olaf is waiting at the end of a room, while Kristoff and Sven are at the other end.  
Kristoff pulls the stiff string back and breathes out. He releases the arrow. It travels swiftly, and hits Olaf’s carrot nose with such force, that it is pushed out of the back of his head and is stuck on the arrow, impaled in the wall.  
“Great shot,” Olaf marvels, taking his nose back. “But what are you going to do about the hole in the wall?”  
“Uh…” Kristoff searches for an answer. He sees a picture on the wall of some flowers, and covers the small hole with it.  
“There,” Kristoff steps back. “Good as new.”  
“Anna might find it suspicious that a painting is three feet off the ground,” Olaf warns.  
“I’ll worry about that,” Kristoff says. “But what. A. Shot!”  
High-fives are shared, and happy congratulations are cheered. The game is won.  
*~*~*~*  
“Relax,” Kristoff tells Anna. “Everything’s fine. Everything’s taken care of.”  
Anna and Elsa exit the room on the side opposite from which they came in, shutting the door behind them.  
“Yeah, and by ‘taken care of’,” Olaf informs, “you mean handed everything over to the advisors.”  
“Not everything,” Kristoff argues. “I got done a good… ninety percent of it.”  
Olaf raises an eyebrow.  
“Eighty?”  
Olaf crosses his arms.  
“Fine, sixty-five,” Kristoff confesses.  
“It’s okay,” Olaf encourages, patting Kristoff on the shoulder. “Running a kingdom is hard work. And I would know.”  
“Wait, what?”  
“Remember when you and Anna were on your honeymoon?” Olaf asks.  
“We had Elsa take over,” Kristoff states.  
“Did she?” Olaf sarcastically questions, smartly running out of the room through the same door Anna and Elsa used to leave.  
“Come on, Sven,” Kristoff jumps on his reindeer’s back to chase Olaf. They break through the door, leaving a man-riding-a-reindeer-sized hole in the door and walls.  
“Gangway!” Olaf calls, running between Anna and Elsa. They step aside to let him through. Noticing the sconces on the wall start shaking, the sisters share a look of confused concern. They look back to see a reindeer charging through the hall. Anna and Elsa turn to run, but it is too late: they are each picked up in one of Sven’s antlers in the pursuit.  
“Just an average day with Olaf?” Anna pokes at Kristoff.  
“Oh, yeah,” he replies with sarcasm. “Completely normal.”  
At the end of the hall, Olaf jumps out a window, breaking glass, and spins two or three times on a second-floor dive into the fjord below.  
“Kristoff…” Anna shows her disdain for what her husband clearly wants to do.  
The sisters shriek in fear as Sven determinedly jumps through the window, breaking any glass that Olaf did not, and the group ungracefully crashes into the waters below. Anna and Elsa go under temporarily. Anna comes up first and begins coughing.  
“Kristoff--” she scolds between coughs. “What-- on earth-- were you thinking?!”  
“Relax,” Kristoff blows off the situation, lying on a floating Sven’s stomach, “we do this kind of thing all the time when you’re out. In fact, that’s the fourth time we’ve broken that window.”  
“Four?!”  
Elsa comes out from underwater on her nokk.  
“If you would,” Elsa tells the water. It sends a stream comparable to that of a modern-day firehose at Kristoff, knocking him of Sven.  
The group swims to the bridge that separates the castle from the village, and the water hoists simultaneously each member of the family over the gray bricks walls. Olaf is doubling over in laughter near where they were put.  
“You should have seen your faces,” he teases, and continues and laughing.  
“And luckily,” General Mattias walks to the drying royals, “with the use of modern technology, you can.” He bends down to use a camera to take a snapshot. As Anna and Elsa scowl, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven wrap arms and hooves around each other and smile with wide-open mouths. A flash from the camera captures the moment.  
“Got it,” General Mattias informs, picking up the camera and walking away.  
“Hold up, General,” Olaf calls, flipping a coin to the photographer who catches it and holds it back to the snowman to wordlessly express thanks.  
“What up, Pabby?” General Mattias greets the head of the Trolls, who is walking towards the castle. Grandpabby gives the General a glance, but otherwise ignores him.  
“Were you expecting me?” Grandpabby inquires, seeing the group still on the bridge ahead of him.  
“Grandpabby, what are you doing here?” Kristoff wonders, happy at the sight of an old friend.  
“I am here to inform you of grave news,” Grandpabby heralds.  
“Grave news?” Anna expresses the worry that crosses into everyone’s minds.  
“Arendelle is awoken. We do not have much time.”  
“Wait, wait, wait,” Elsa gestures with her hands for Grandpabby to slow down. “Arendelle is awoken?”  
“Yes. He is coming,” Grandpabby warns.  
“‘He’?” Anna repeats.  
“We kept it a secret,” Grandpabby shares, “so everyone could live happily and peacefully. We did not think he would return so quickly.”  
“Allow me to express the confusion on all our minds,” Olaf steps to the front. “The what?”  
Grandpabby sighs and turns around, moving his hands and fingers upwards, bringing into existence magical sparkles and swirls to visually explain what he will impart vocally.  
“Long ago,” he begins, “there were three different beings sharing a world: people, Trolls, and Hellions.”  
“Hellions?” Anna confirms.  
“Yes. They had the power of hellfire, much different from normal fire. It spreads much more quickly, and cannot be stopped by anything except for its user’s murder, as they do not die naturally. But the Hellions were not evil; in fact, they coexisted with us quite peacefully, until the birth of one Hellion: Arendelle. He became so consumed by his power, that he killed all the other Hellions and enslaved all people. All people, that is, except for a few who managed to escape, and the Trolls. He was strong, so we could not kill him, but we managed to trap him inside the earth, under your kingdom, and our ancestors have kept him there for hundreds, even thousands, of years.” Grandpabby ends the magic show and turns to face the royal family again. “But something came alive inside of him, and we cannot hold him much longer. You have spoken of a bridge having two side, and your mother having two daughters. Elsa, Queen Anna, you must work together as the bridge between man and nature to defeat this new enemy, or he will enslave and torture any who dare not stand against him.”  
“What do we do?” Anna wonders.  
“You must train to be ready for his return. Our power can keep him at bay a little longer, but when he is back, his fire will be more powerful than ever.”  
“How do we do this?” Elsa asks, looking at her ring and thinking of Jack.  
“You both must come with me. I will assist you in growing and developing your powers to their fullest potential.”  
“But I don’t have any powers,” Anna points out.  
“That is true, Anna, you don’t,” Grandpabby agrees. “But you must come with me for a different reason.”  
“If I’m going to leave my kingdom when war is at hand, I’d like to know why,” Anna argues.  
“You must learn the truth about your kingdom and your parents.”  
“Tell me. Now.”  
“There is a lot to tell. That is why you must come with us,” Grandpabby tells Anna. “To the lands between the Enchanted Forest and Arendelle. The kingdom, not the Hellion. The air in those regions is… special. Kristoff, you stay behind to take care of evacuation protocol. We have time, but not much of it.”  
“How long do you think?” Kristoff wonders.  
“I do not know. That is why we must get ready now.”  
“What about Jack and the Enchanted Forest?” Elsa wants to know.  
“The elemental spirits will take care of them,” Grandpabby assures.  
“We’ll see each other again, right?” Olaf asks.  
Grandpabby sighs. “I cannot guarantee it. We will train as quickly as we can, and return in time to fight. But meeting again; there is no way of telling.”  
“Anna,” Kristoff turns Anna to him again. They kiss, knowing very well it could be their last kiss. Olaf shades his eyes and Sven’s, and Elsa sheepishly smiles.  
“We’ll see each other again,” Anna states confidently.  
“Let us go,” Grandpabby says. He starts walking away. Elsa follows.  
“You coming?” Elsa turns to ask Anna, holding Kristoff’s forearms in hers. Kristoff reciprocates.  
“Yeah. I’m coming,” she replies, looking Kristoff in the eyes once more before ending the embrace to follow.  
Kristoff puts his hand out a little as if to stop Anna from leaving. The effects of what just happened have not quite hit him yet. He watches Anna and Elsa leave behind Grandpabby. They do not look back.  
“Now, there’s one thing we can’t do,” Kristoff tells Olaf and Sven, getting down to business. “We can’t cause any panic.”  
“Run for your life!” Olaf calls to a passerby woman. She drops the dishes she is carrying, shattering them, and runs off screaming.  
Sven hits Olaf in the back of the head with a swift hoof.  
“As hilarious and well-timed as that was,” Kristoff tells Olaf, “We can’t scare people. It will make the situation that much more difficult. I’ll go inside and start getting things put away with the castle, and you two go and calmly tell people to gather their things and pass the word to head for the North Mountain. You got that?”  
“Oh, come on,” Olaf blows off the seriousness of the dilemma, leaning on one of Sven’s antlers. “You seriously don’t trust us to handle such a simple task as that?”  
“I never said that,” Kristoff becomes annoyed. “I said to tell people to gather their belongings and pass the word to others to do the same. Clothes, food, heirlooms-- anything important. Then they go into the North Mountain as far as they can. We can’t have anyone die.”  
Olaf becomes serious, realizing for the first time that lives are at stake.  
“We have to do this,” Kristoff tries to get Olaf to respond. “Please. For Anna. For Elsa. For everyone.”  
Olaf looks Kristoff squarely in the eyes. “We won’t let you down,” he promises, hopping on Sven. They ride off, leaving Kristoff alone on the castle bridge.  
*~*~*~*  
Anna, Elsa, and Grandpabby are riding in a wooden wagon being pulled by Trolls. The wheels are Trolls as well, rolling along as barrels, balancing the wagon bed on top of their ever-rolling rock bodies. They ride through the streets by the docks on their way out. Hale lines the wagon bed for seatbacks. No one speaks.  
Elsa looks up at the sun, seeing its level in the sky to tell the time. Once again, Ond’s voice echoes in her head: “Return here at five o’clock this evening if you want to change your mind. If you tell anyone about this, I will make you regret it. I can show you how to truly use your power.”  
“Can we stop for a minute?” Elsa asks Grandpabby upon seeing the bakery, breaking the silence. The wagon comes to a stop, Grandpabby wordlessly granting Elsa permission. She gets out of the wagon and goes into the bakery. No reply from the wagon.  
The bakery bustles with business for the evening rush. Elsa looks around and sees Ond, sitting in a corner booth. Elsa quickly makes way for the booth, sitting down and leaning on the table upon arrival.  
“Let’s get straight to it,” Elsa cracks down. “You said you can help me use my power. I need to know how. Show me.”  
“May I inquire,” Ond asks, leaning back and looking at his twiddling fingers, “why you are so urgently seeking my assistance?”  
“No, you may not,” Elsa denies. “Tell me.”  
“Well, it’s a simple formula, really,” Ond shares. “It’s the answer to everything: true love.” He sighs. “It’s always the answer. I would know, of course.”  
“Okay. Thank you for nothing,” Elsa says sarcastically, getting up to leave. “I’m going to turn you in now, unless you give me a reason not to.”  
Even in the darkest times, Elsa finds the grace in her heart to show kindness and give people chances. It is the attributes only developed through a life of trial. Of course, it does not hurt to be given a second chance herself. Curiosity is another reason for her kindness, however apparent, towards Ond. Elsa desires to know how to develop her powers for the unstated reason of fighting Arendelle.  
“Oh, I’ll give you a reason not to,” Ond offers. “If you give me the chance, I can show you how to unlock ultimate power.”  
“Like I’ll give you that chance now.”  
“Elsa, can I ask you a question?”  
“Make it fast.”  
“Have you ever felt as lonely, as locked-up, as isolated as I have?”  
Elsa’s childhood flashes before her eyes. She sits down to listen.  
“I was locked in a jail cell for nearly six years. Sure, I could keep myself busy, but the loneliness was almost unbearable. I’m sure someone of your stature has never felt that.”  
Elsa remembers all the times she has had to ignore Anna from her side of the bedroom door. Countless times, each one more heartbreaking than the last. Elsa almost feels sick thinking about it, and the memories ground themselves in her thoughts.  
“I have,” she replies quietly.  
“Really?”  
“Yeah,” Elsa responds, looking Hans in the eyes for a fleeting moment.  
“Of course, it didn’t help to have twelve older brothers mocking me from the other side of the bars the whole time. They called me nasty things. They teased me, asking me if I wanted to… build snowmen and the like.”  
This strikes a chord within Elsa.  
“I know what it’s like,” she shares.  
“Six years with no one,” Hans goes on. “All I could do was think about my ruined life. No one should have to go through that. But I did. I had to bear it all. Trapped. Alone. No one to be there for me.”  
“Princess Elsa?” A familiar voice asks, knocking on the door.  
“Yes?” Elsa replies dejectedly.  
Kai’s voice sighs. “Can you open the door? This is something I must tell you face-to-face.”  
“I’m not opening this door for anything,” Elsa denies.  
“If that’s the way you will have it,” Kai allows. “I deeply regret to inform you that… your parents’ ship… went down in the Southern Sea.”  
“What?” Elsa reacts, opening the door, not expecting to hear this information. Her room ices over with frost. She sees Kai’s eyes, filled with sorrow and regret. Elsa’s own eyes well with tears. She slams the door and falls against it, sobbing.  
Elsa becomes sorrowful again upon remembering the six years between her parents’ death and her coronation.  
“This is terrible,” Elsa says. “No matter what you do, you can’t live like that.”  
“I know,” Ond agrees. “All I want is to be loved by someone. Anyone. But it can’t be. Because I’m me.”  
“Ond--”  
“No. Don’t say anything. I was born to be rejected and hated and alone.”  
“Ond, I can tell you from experience that it won’t be this way forever,” Elsa encourages, any hostility temporarily leaving her being replaced by sympathy. “Something will change for the better.”  
“You really think so?”  
“I know it will.”  
“Thank you, Elsa.”  
Ond stands up and Elsa does the same.  
“Now, I have to go,” Elsa ends the conversation. “My sister is waiting for me.” She walks away to leave, but is stopped.  
“Elsa, wait,” Ond pleads, grabbing her arm and turning her towards him. Most unexpectedly, he kisses her, holding her cheeks in his hands. Elsa does nothing to stop it nor break it up. She knows she is engaged to someone else, but she believes that Ond needs a moment of love. He just spilled his heart to her, revealing that his experiences were the same as hers. Those wretched times. No one should have to go through them. For a moment, a fleeting, slow moment, she feels love for Ond.  
Ond ends the kiss, and Elsa looks at her right hand and sees the bracelet from Jack, suddenly remembering that he is the one she loves, not Ond. But poor Ond. His life has been horrible. He needs this.  
“I…” Elsa begins. “I have to go.”  
She runs out of the bakery quickly, jumping into the wagon.  
“Go,” she commands, and the procession moves ahead, no one aware of what went on inside the bakery.  
Ond exits the bakery and looks around for Elsa, and sees her on the wagon leaving. No one there sees him. He runs after it for a short moment, then ducks behind a building, chuckling to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment and let me know what works/doesn't work and what you like/dislike.


	5. Part V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shocking truth about Anna's past is revealed, and Elsa begins her training.

The wagon rolls slowly through a forest. Not an enchanted one, it must be noted. The sun has almost set, and light is sparse through the canopy.  
“Grandpabby?” Anna asks tiredly. “You still haven’t said what you needed to talk to me about.”  
“Anna, it’s getting late,” Grandpabby protests. “You’re looking tired and--”  
“It’s a perfect time. What did you want to tell me?”  
“Anna, trust me when I say now is not the best time.”  
“Then when will be the best time? There may be no time, thanks to this Hellion, so now’s as good a time as any.”  
Grandpabby sighs. “It’s about your parents.”  
“What about them?” Anna inquires.  
“They are… are not your real parents.”  
“What do you mean?”  
Grandpabby looks Anna in the eyes, speaking thousands of words without making a sound. A realization hits Anna. She feels as if her heart stops beating and everything that ever happened is pointless.  
“I’m… adopted?” She clarifies.  
“Wait, what?” Elsa looks up, having not been paying attention. “Adopted? There’s no way.”  
Grandpabby shows reluctance in responding, but finally speaks to Anna. “They died when you were just a baby.”  
“My parents? My real parents? How did they die?” Anna sits herself up straighter, preparing for a long story.  
“Anna, you’re not adopted,” Elsa fights off the possibility.  
“They became gravely ill and their bodies gave out,” Grandpabby replies to Anna, ending the story relatively quickly.  
“So the king and queen adopted me,” Anna finishes.  
“Anna, the king and queen are your real parents,” Elsa interjects. “Maybe not by birth, but they are.”  
“They saw it in their hearts,” Grandpabby continues, “to bring you into their family.”  
“Elsa, do you remember any of this?” Anna wonders.  
“All I remember was having a new baby sister,” Elsa responds. “Nothing else. I was three. And I was never told you were adopted. And you want to know why? It’s ‘cause you’re not adopted.”  
“Elsa--” Grandpabby begins.  
“What’s the point?” Anna asks out loud.  
“Here we go,” Elsa comments, laying down to be in a comfortable position for what she knows is going to be one of Anna’s ramblings.  
“If I’m not their own child,” Anna goes on, “then is everything I’ve done a lie? If I’ve grown up believing one lie, how can I know what’s true? Is everything a lie? My own parents didn’t love me enough to tell me.”  
“Now, that’s not true,” Grandpabby interrupts as any light from the sun evaporates for the night. “They didn’t tell you because they wanted what was best for you.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“They didn’t want you believing you were any different. They wanted you to fit in.”  
“Were they ever going to tell me?”  
“They kept a lot to themselves. There is no way of knowing.”  
“It’s good enough, I guess.”  
Anna yawns and lays down.  
“Where the Northwind meets the sea…” she sings quietly to herself, falling asleep almost instantly. Grandpabby puts a blanket over her and looks at Elsa, his expression asking why Anna sang.  
“She sings that to fall asleep when she’s stressed,” Elsa tells Grandpabby solemnly. “She has ever since I could remember.”  
“Ah,” Grandpabby reacts, putting a blanket over Elsa.  
“It’s not true,” Elsa tells Grandpabby. “She’s not adopted. She’s my sister.”  
“The truth is not always what we want it to be,” Grandpabby lectures.  
“Oh, I know that,” Elsa becomes sarcastic, propping herself up. “I’ve known it since I learned my grandfather betrayed the Northuldra. I’ve known it since I had to give up my relationship with my sister to keep her safe. My sister. She’s not adopted. Besides, someone would’ve told me.”  
“And yet they didn’t,” Grandpabby keeps his cool, unlike Elsa.  
“Why?” Elsa asks sharply.  
“They wanted you to have a normal relationship,” Grandpabby explains.  
“And we did, because we’re sisters,” Elsa goes on.  
Grandpabby does not respond, looking off into the night.  
Elsa slams her head onto her straw pillow, wearing an angry expression, not wanting to sleep.  
*~*~*~*  
It happens to everyone: events that fill one’s day typically replay themselves in one way or another during a dream the following night. The same is the case with Anna, who dreams that she wakes up, but does not feel herself moving. She props herself up and sees that she is not in the wagon. In fact, she is not anywhere. Pitch black is the only thing she can see in every direction. Anna holds her hand out in front of herself to see it, and she can see it perfectly. If she looks down, she can see all of herself, but not what she is standing on, if she is standing on anything.   
“Hello?” She calls, hoping for an answer.  
No response.  
“It’s me: Anna,” Anna introduces herself to the darkness. Her voice echoes.  
A light fades into existence behind her. She turns around and sees her parents, Agnarr and Iduna, looking exactly as she had left them before their fateful journey.  
“Mother? Father?” Anna tries to understand.  
They hold their arms out at Anna. She runs to hug them, but hugs air instead, as if she were trying to embrace ghosts.  
“What’s happening?” Anna asks worriedly.  
Neither Agnarr nor Iduna responds.  
“Mother, Father, please, answer me!” Anna begs.  
“We’re not your mother and father,” Agnarr’s voice echoes. “We never should have existed to you.”  
“Your real parents are dead,” Iduna states. “You have no one.”  
“That’s not true,” Anna tries to argue as tears fill in her eyes and her voice starts breaking. “I have Kristoff and Elsa and--”  
“But Elsa’s not really your sister, is she?” Agnarr inquires.  
“That’s not true!” Anna yells, crying.  
Agnarr and Iduna fade away.  
“Come back!” Anna yells. “Don’t leave me! Please! You’re my parents! No!” She starts sobbing.  
As the wagon rumbles along, a single tear falls from under Anna’s sleeping eye and slowly rolls down her cheek. She wears a small frown, and she is visibly frustrated, though asleep, outwardly reacting to her dream.  
*~*~*~*  
“Okay, let’s think,” Kristoff declares from the head of the table, around which are seated numerous advisors. “What do we absolutely not need?”  
“Most furniture,” one comments.  
“Good, good,” Kristoff approves. “What else? I mean, we’re talking a potential end of the world. What will we need to survive?”  
“Aside from food and drink, all else we really need is clothing,” another advisor offers his opinion.  
“Then let’s execute,” Kristoff calls everyone to action, standing up. “We need to get everyone out of here safely to the North Mountain. We survive on our own long enough for Anna and Elsa to get back and destroy this demon.”  
The advisors leave quickly to get things done. Meanwhile, Kristoff walks to look out the window over the fjord.  
“Oh, Anna,” he says to himself. “I know we’ll see each other again.”  
Kristoff’s mind is not in the clearest of frames. A mass evacuation in itself is confusing business enough, not taking into account the fact that each and every life is in his own hands in his royal position. His thoughts go immediately to Anna, for multiple reasons. Naturally, as her husband, he wishes he could be with her to protect her from all harm, knowing a difficult fight ahead. He is nearly overwhelmed by the thought that he could lose her in a moment, by one bad move during a battle, by standing up the to the Hellion, by showing the courage he knew he never could if he wanted to, but could if he needed to. Here, he knows that he must be courageous for her. He must do his job, for her. If he cannot do the one thing he is required to do, how can she trust him? When he cannot do one thing? This is his moment to prove how much he loves her, by being strong. Hard as it may be to cope with the thought of thousands dying or living in torture, she is the one thing that keeps his head on straight.  
*~*~*~*  
“Okay, Sven, this is our big moment,” Olaf tells Sven as the two approach the first doorstep. Olaf knocks on the door and the two wait a moment before being answered by a tall, hulking man.  
“Yes, snowman?” The man asks in a thick Russian accent.  
Olaf clears his throat. “Dear citizen of Arendelle,” he recites, “I am here to inform you that times are grave and you must evacuate to the North Mountain. Gather only what you need and leave through and behind the castle in an orderly fashion.”  
The man shrieks and runs inside. Olaf looks at Sven and shrugs. A minute or two later, the man runs out of the house, still shrieking, carrying a cloth bag filled with food and clothes.  
“Tell your friends!” Olaf calls after the man, being ignored.  
“Well, that went well,” Olaf shrugs off the reaction. He and Sven move on to the next house. Olaf knocks on the door and is answered this time by a woman.  
“May I help you?” The woman asks.  
“I’m just going to cut to the chase,” Olaf replies. “A Hellion is coming, so you need to get what you need and go to the North Mountain. Capiche?”  
“All right, Percy!” The woman calls into the house. “Get the boys together! The moment your great-granddaddy predicted would come has arrived! Let’s ride!”  
The woman marches out of the house. Trailing her is a procession of about a dozen men and boys, in order of descending height. Each carries a small wooden chest, with the exception of the man in front, who carries a large, cloth sack.   
“Well, that was something,” Olaf shares his thought with Sven after the littlest boy has left.   
Olaf is entirely unaware of the seriousness of the evacuation. Yes, he has had his moment of realization when it hit him that he might never see Anna or Elsa again. He thinks of Anna and Kristoff as his parents: the ones who show him the do’s don’ts, who humor him with his occasionally irritating antics, and who show him right from wrong. His natural, carefree demeanor takes over outwardly. He tries to stay optimistic through the turmoil of the times to keep everyone else as calm and happy as possible, given the circumstances. Life is like a game, and if he cannot play with his head held high and a smile on his face, why play at all?  
*~*~*~*  
Stars are few and far between overhead. The moon shines in its nighttime beauty far away, offering little light. Any brightness sin the sky comes from the Northern Lights, dancing without a worry as if on cue every night, brightening the beyond with a display of soft greens, blues, and pinks. It is under this heavenly canopy that Anna wakes up from her sleep. She can hear the conversation of her dream echoing in her ears, each painful moment perfectly preserved. She becomes upset again, though she does not cry. She reminds herself that it was just a dream, that it has no bearing on real life.  
She lifts her head to look around. The Trolls underfoot rumble softly across the grassy terrain. Elsa sleeps soundly, as if she had been asleep since the beginning of time. Grandpabby, however, is awake, squinting at the horizon as if looking for answers himself.  
“Grandpabby?” Anna whispers, trying not to wake Elsa.  
“We are nearly there,” he informs her, not in a whisper, but still quietly. “Just a few more minutes. You needn’t go back to sleep; it won’t do you any use now.”  
“Can I ask a question?” Anna asks, still whispering. She crawls over to Grandpabby and half sits, half leans against some hay.  
“Anything, your majesty,” Grandpabby allows.  
“What were my parents like?” Anna inquires.  
Grandpabby sighs customarily. “It is not a good story.”  
“I can take it.”  
“Then I will tell you. There is no way around it. They were criminals.”  
“Wait, what?” Anna reacts in despair.  
“It is sadly true.” Grandpabby raises his hands, indicating he is about to show a story. “Your parents were criminals, showing only love for each other and money.”  
“What happened to them?” Anna wonders.  
“Well, they had you. You were the next, and last, thing they loved.”  
“Do we have a family name?” Anna asks.  
“Skylark.”  
“I’m a Skylark?” Anna whispers to herself, smiling a little at the beauty of the name.  
A contemplative silence hangs in the air as Anna takes in all she has been told. Hearing her family name, Skylark, near the end gives her mind a positive note not otherwise obtained had the conversation ended upon the reveal of her parents’ criminal history.   
“We’re here,” Grandpabby breaks the silence, announcing the end of the journey loudly enough to wake Elsa.  
Clouds cover the sky where the sun is trying to rise. In the clear parts of the beyond are colors not characteristic of a normal sky; rather, they are purple and pink, and filled with sparkles like stars, as if a galaxy has been cleverly etched into the invisible ceiling above. A uniform mountain stands tall and resolute ahead. Trees continue onward on the left, and dirty plains extend ahead and to the right. A small pool of natural water lies still in the grass feet ahead of them, begging to be used. The air has a feel like rain had just fallen: a warm, wet sensation.  
“It’s beautiful,” Elsa comments.  
“I can’t believe I never saw this before,” Anna says to herself.  
“It must have been night when we passed through here,” Elsa guesses.  
“Eat now,” Grandpabby commands. “You cannot train on an empty stomach.”  
The Trolls who had been pulling the wagon take fruits and vegetables out from the hay bales. They carefully wash them in the pool of water, making sure that all traces of straw have been removed.  
“There’s no time,” Anna says. “If Arendelle is coming, we can eat on the way back. Elsa, you with me?”  
“I’m with you,” Elsa replies. “Let’s train. But you can eat. You’re not training.”  
Anna takes an apple.  
“The air in this land,” Grandpabby explains, “is magic air. Halfway between the land of the Trolls and the land of the elemental spirits. It will flow into you, become a part of you. It will never leave you, and it will strengthen your powers with its magic. Elsa. Do you see that mountain?”  
“You mean the one mountain? The one, big mountain a thousand feet ahead of us?”  
“No, I mean the mountain you ran away to,” Grandpabby plays along with Elsa’s sarcasm. “Yes, that mountain. It is a volcano, dormant for as long as anyone can remember. I have brought along Trolls practiced in the art of fire. They, along with me, will bring its heat from underground. It will erupt. You will stop it.”  
“Grandpabby, I can’t--”  
“You must. This is the best practice I can offer without risking hurting anyone.”  
The clouds part and the sun shines with all its rising intensity on the trainee. She ties her hair behind herself.   
Grandpabby rubs his forefingers against his thumbs, and white sparkles start orbiting his hands. The other Trolls do the same as Anna and Elsa watch with childlike awe. The Trolls push their hands forward, sending the magic at the volcano ahead. At first, it flies through the air around the small company of seven Trolls and two royal daughters, before zipping speedily to the volcano. It impacts the volcano forcefully, immediately shaking the ground with the rumble of rising magma.  
“Is this an earthquake?” Anna asks through the shakes in her voice.  
“Just rising lava,” Grandpabby explains.  
The Trolls become boulders, eliciting a shared shrug from Anna and Elsa.   
Lava starts coming out of the top of the traditionally-shaped volcano. Not in an explosion, but rather coming out and flowing down the sides quickly towards the waiting trainees. Smoke speedily fills the air. Elsa sends snow to counter the ever-thickening smoke. However, whatever she does, twice the destroyed smoke takes the place of the defeated. In a moment, the smoke becomes the least of her worries; the lava is getting close, maybe fifty yards away. Elsa sends a wall of ice to stop the advancing inferno, but to no avail. The heat rapidly destroys the ice. Smoke continues to thicken. Elsa sends another wall, thicker and higher than the first one. The lava slowly makes its way through. The lava is now within twenty yards of her. She begins clearing the ever-thickening smoke with snow with her right hand, while her left hand sends flurries to the lava to absorb it. Slowly but surely, the smoke begins disappearing as the lava advances, more sluggishly the more Elsa fights it, but still moving. Five yards, four yards. The last of the smoke is cleared, leaving only the advancing burn.  
“Come on, Elsa!” Anna yells. “I don’t feel like dying today!”  
With a scream of exertion, Elsa sends a blast of snow and ice at the lava. The icy magic absorbs the lava, leaving a snowbank in its place. Elsa smiles, relieved and hot from the lava.  
Smoke comes into the sky again, though thinly.  
“Is that more smoke?” Anna inquires.  
“It is,” Elsa confirms, running to the volcano.  
“Always running towards the trouble,” Anna rolls her eyes, following Elsa. “The least I can do is try to keep her safe.”  
They run around the base of the volcano, finding lava advancing away on the other side.  
“Elsa!” A voice calls.  
“Who’s that?” Anna asks worriedly.  
“Just ignore it,” Elsa commands. She starts clearing the smoke in the air.  
“Elsa, are you okay?” The voice inquires, much closer now. An unexpected figure emerges from the woods on the left.  
“Jack?” Elsa names the unknown.  
“Are you okay? What’s happening?” Jack checks in.  
“What are you doing here?” Elsa wants to know.  
“As confusing as your boyfriend’s appearance is,” Anna yells to ensure Elsa can hear her, “you have a volcano to deal with! Death first, confusing appearance by Jack, second.”  
“The spirits kicked us out,” Jack tells Elsa. “I came this way to check on you.”  
“I’m fine,” Elsa informs. “Are you?”  
“Elsa!” Anna calls.  
“I’m fine, now that I’m with you,” Jack tells Elsa, kissing her. On her hands and arms appear the outlines of blue diamonds, the same color as her bracelet. The diamonds appear all over herself, covering her entirely, and in a blast of magical energy, ice and snow burst from her body in every direction, defeating the volcano and transforming the terrain into a snowy wonderland. Icicles hang from leafless branches. Ice sculptures of trees, flowers, and people dot the world. The volcano is completely inundated in snow, and a light snow falls under the sun.  
“Elsa,” Anna begins with shock and snow on her head, “what was that?”  
“I… I don’t know,” Elsa searches for answers.   
“If I might clear it up a little,” Jack offers, his head topped with snow as well. “It happened, like, right after I kissed her, so.”  
Grandpabby rolls to the trio. “Elsa,” he states in wonderment, “what did you do?”  
“I really don’t know,” Elsa answers.  
“It seems as if you have unlocked your power, what it can truly do. This is beautiful. Did Anna help with this?”  
“Well--” Elsa begins.  
“No, she did not,” Anna interrupts.  
“And if I may ask,” Grandpabby inquires, “what is this man doing here?”  
“He’s Elsa boyfriend,” Anna explains, “and we all know they’re going to get married someday, but he hasn’t manned up and proposed yet.”  
Jack blushes.   
“How did you find us?” Grandpabby wants to know of Jack.  
“The spirits kicked us all out of the Enchanted Forest,” Jack conveys. “I don’t know why. The others headed for the Northern Regions.”  
“They’re going to help us,” Grandpabby declares. “The spirits wanted everyone out of the Forest so there would be nothing left to defend. They can feel it, as can I. Now, Jack, why didn’t you go with them?”  
“I had to come to make sure Elsa was okay, and I guess we met halfway,” Jack illustrates. “It felt like something was telling me to go. Something unescapable.”  
“You’re right,” Grandpabby agrees. “Something sent you. Call it what you will. Fate, destiny.”  
“Of course,” Jack interrupts. “It was the spirits. They must have--”  
“Sent you to me,” Elsa interjects. “To show me what do wo with my power.” She looks at her hands, and Hans’s voice echoes in her mind again:   
“It’s the answer to everything: true love.”  
“What did you feel, Jack?” Elsa asks.  
“Almost like the wind itself was pushing me towards you.”  
“Gale,” Anna and Elsa say simultaneously.  
“Gale?” Jack repeats.  
“It’s been two years, Jack,” Anna criticizes. “If you’d listen to your future wife more, you’d know who Gale is.”  
Elsa shoots snow into Anna’s face.  
“I hardly talk about Gale,” Elsa explains. “It’s what Olaf named the Wind Spirit. She must have gently pushed you along to me so I could discover my power.”  
“You have done it once,” Grandpabby heralds, “but how? Can you do it again?”  
“I don’t think I can,” Elsa states. “For a fleeting moment, I felt reciprocated love. But it was different from normal love. Like… like…”  
“True love?” Anna pokes. “Like, marriage true love?”  
“If that’s what you want to call it, then yes,” Elsa confirms. “It was pure love, unhurt love. I’ve never felt anything like it.”  
“Want to see if you can do the power thing again?” Jack asks, raising his eyebrows. He quickly kisses Elsa. She looks at her hands, but nothing happens.  
“Mmm,” Grandpabby reacts. “There must be some deeper magic, some deeper connection. Something. We will have to find out later. For now, we must start a new challenge.”  
Elsa evaporates the icy, snowy wonderland and prepares for what is next.  
Grandpabby walks away for the time being.  
“Anna, talk with me for a minute,” Elsa commands. “Jack, leave us alone.”  
“Eh,” Jack shrugs, strolling behind Grandpabby.  
“Anna, you’re not adopted,” Elsa cuts to the chase.  
“Well, Grandpabby says I am,” Anna argues. “And I trust him.”  
“I don’t,” Elsa disagrees. “If you’re adopted, why would no one tell you?”  
“You heard Grandpabby,” Anna explains. “They didn’t want me thinking I was any different.”  
“There’s some big lie somewhere in all of this,” Elsa looks down at nothing. “And I’m going to find it.”  
“Elsa, I think you need to cool down,” Anna steps back. “You’re not in the right mindset.”  
“I’m fine,” Elsa shakes it off. “Just… give me a minute.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment with your thoughts, please!!


	6. Part VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ond's plan begins to unfold, and Elsa doubts the truth of Anna's past.

The sun shines on Arendelle, but it does not reach the back of the castle, as it is blocked. What does reach the back of the castle, however, is Ond. By thrusting arrows into the bricks of the outer wall, he moves along the back, over the water. Slowly, he moves along. Brick by brick, foot by foot. He reaches dirt where he can place his feet, and he goes to the steps that lead into the castle, the steps by which Elsa left Arendelle after her coronation and when she heard the voice that fateful night. He sneaks up the steps and goes inside. He sees an attendant walking through the halls on his commute from one task to the next. Ond goes out to the top step and scratches the wooden door, gaining the attention of the attendant. The attendant pokes his head out the door to see what is making the scratching noise. Suddenly, his feet are pulled out from under him and he is knocked unconscious by the handle of a knife.  
Ond looks inside the castle and sees the coast is clear. He sneaks down the hall on his left, moving swiftly and quietly. A sound of talk and laughter is heard behind him. A couple chatting attendants approach him, but are not paying attention to him, or anything, for that matter. There is nothing to duck behind, and running would attract the attendants’ attention, so Ond desperately tries to think of a way to act casual.  
“Dude,” one attendant addresses Ond, “what’s up with your face?”  
“Yeah, you, like,” the other attendant notices, “have metal spots on you. Are you, like, okay?”  
“I’m fine,” Ond assures them. “Just a new style I’m trying. It’ll be the thing in a couple weeks.”  
“Sorry, dude,” one attendant apologizes, “but there’s no way that’s going to catch on.”  
“Yeah, even if we have a couple weeks,” the other adds, laughing at his comment.  
“I’m kind of new here,” Ond tells them. “Can you direct me to our quarters?”  
“You, like, don’t know?” The second attendant asks.  
“First day heebie-jeebies,” the first guesses.  
“That’s exactly what it is,” Ond tries to get on their good side.  
“Sure, bro,” the second offers, “as soon as I’m done on the can, I’ll show you. Let me say, there’s a reason we stick to Arendellian cuisine.”  
“I, I don’t need to hear it,” Ond quiets the second. Turning to the first, he asks, “Can you show me?”  
“Dude,” the first attendant replies. “That’s, like, an innovative idea. Come with me, I’ll show you. Big first day.”  
“Aight, Im’ma head out,” the second attendant leaves, dashing through the halls to take care of aforementioned business.  
“Bro, like, come with me,” the first attendant commands Ond, gesturing for him to follow.   
Ond is led in the opposite direction the attendants had come.  
“Is there a dungeon,” Ond asks, “or some sort of torture chamber?”  
“Oh, yeah, dude,” the attendant replies as they turn down a hall, going deeper inside the castle. “Every castle has one. Every. One.”  
“Where would it be?” Ond goes on.  
“Dude, you’re in it,” the attendant shares matter-of-factly.  
“I mean the dungeon.”   
They go down a flight of steps.  
“Ohh. I thought you meant the castle.”  
Ond face palms.  
“It’s just down there,” the attendant points at a door to the left. “In there is a staircase that leads to three doors. Through the correct door is another staircase that leads to ten doors. Inside each is a dark room, candlelit. A hatch on the floor of one of the rooms opens so you can push victims in for the ten-foot fall. Except it’s not a torture chamber. It’s a death chamber. No one can hear you through the floor, and you just stay there till you die. Course, it hasn’t been used in decades, but Lortemus and I cleaned out the skeletons and rats and spiders last year, so it should be clean. That’s one more time than anyone’s ever cleaned the attendants’ quarters, which are right up there.”  
They ascend a staircase. At the top sits a door, which the attendant opens for Ond. The disguised steps through, seeing another hall in front of him. To the right is another hall, to the left, wall, and ahead, red-carpeted hall with about three doors on either side before another hallway intersection.  
“Lay claim to any free bed,” the attendant tells Ond, “‘cause we live by a strict dibs policy, and let me tell you, it’s cutthroat.”  
“Thank you, sir,” Ond thanks the attendant.  
“Dude, like, no problem. Hit me up with any more questions. And, also, dude, call me Morty.”  
“Okay, Morty.”  
“And you are…?”  
“Nunya.”  
“Dude, like, great name!”  
“I lucked out.”  
“Aw, man, you did! See you around, Nunya!”  
The attendant leaves to do whatever it is he needs to do. Ond grins evilly to himself, ready to carry out whatever despicable plans he has stored in his malicious head. Everything is going by design.  
*~*~*~*  
The sun outside the window in the hall floods in, brightening Kristoff’s already-light hair. It does not fit his melancholy mood, however; he feels scared about the possibilities of the near future, and their ramifications on his life. But this, and any other sensations, are all blocked out by one thing: he cannot be with Anna. He cannot be there to protect her.  
Across the land, Anna feels the same. The man she loves is miles away, dealing with his own worries. With everything going on, what with her adoption and preparation for the worst, she needs some constant, a constant only Kristoff can provide.   
Their thoughts and feelings are revealed in the form of song, as much is in worlds like this.  
*~*~*~*  
I Would Die for You  
Kristoff:  
“I would die for you,  
Just to keep you above.  
I would die for you,  
‘Cause you’re my true love.  
When it’s the time,  
I’ll step in the line  
Of fire  
To keep you safe from the thieves  
And killers and liars  
Oh, I would die for you

When someone gets close,  
Because I love you the most,  
I’ll put my life up for yours.  
If it comes to the worst,  
I’m gonna put you first  
‘Cause you’re the one worth fighting for.

Oh, I can’t live without you,  
All I want is to be with you  
And all I want   
Is for you to know:”

Kristoff and Anna:  
“I would die for you,  
Just to keep you above.  
I would die for you,  
‘Cause you’re my true love.  
When it’s the time,  
I’ll step in the line  
Of fire  
To keep you safe from the thieves  
And killers and liars  
Oh, I would die for you.”

Anna:  
“I just wanna say,  
My life’s what I’d pay  
If that’s what was needed of me.  
‘Cause I love you so  
I can’t let you go  
All I need is for you to be free.

Oh, please know that I love you  
I know that you love me, too.  
And all I want   
Is for you to know:”

Kristoff and Anna:  
“I would die for you,  
Just to keep you above.  
I would die for you,  
‘Cause you’re my true love.  
When it’s the time,  
I’ll step in the line  
Of fire  
To keep you safe from the thieves  
And killers and liars

I die a little bit each day,  
Not having you at my side.  
Whatever happens,  
I want you by me for the ride.  
And when this is all over,  
I’ll still resound and repeat with pride:

That I would die for you,  
Just to keep you above.  
I would die for you,  
‘Cause you’re my true love.  
When it’s the time,  
I’ll step in the line  
Of fire  
To keep you safe from the thieves  
And killers and liars.”

Kristoff:  
“Oh, I would die for you.”  
*~*~*~*  
Kristoff waits anxiously at the castle gates for Olaf and Sven to return with news of a successful evacuation. He sees them walking in his direction. Olaf, however, is struggling to walk, as his laughter is crippling him.  
“And… and then I said…” he tells Sven between laughs, “that if he didn’t get home soon, his wife was going to be pi--”  
“Is that the joke I told you?!” Kristoff calls to them, considering their distance.  
“You’d better believe it!” Olaf calls back, laughing again. “But I tell it better!”  
Kristoff takes mild offense. “Sven, tell him he doesn’t!” He commands the reindeer.  
Sven looks at Olaf and laughs. Well, reindeer-laughs. A reindeer can’t technically laugh.  
“Sven disagrees!” Olaf informs Kristoff.  
Laughing all the way, Olaf and Sven mosey to Kristoff.  
“Did you tell the best part?” Kristoff asks.  
“What’s the best part?” Olaf wonders.  
“That when he did get home, his wife was angry!”  
The boys laugh for a relieving minute, stepping away from the trouble and goings-on of the world around them.  
“But seriously,” Kristoff begins, “did you evacuate the whole town? All of Arendelle?”  
“Relax,” Olaf assures Kristoff. “Everyone’s out. Well, except for us and the slaves--”  
“Attendants,” Kristoff interrupts.  
“Call them what you will,” Olaf permits. “The point is, everyone’s out. Now, we just sit back and wait for the apocalypse.”  
“I have some things I need to take care of in the castle,” Kristoff imparts, turning to go inside.  
Suddenly, smoke starts rising from the pavement in the streets.  
“If I may ask,” Olaf begins calmly, turning into a panic, “what is that?”  
“I would guess the Hellion,” Kristoff says. “We were supposed to have more time than this.”  
“What do we do?” Olaf looks for guidance.  
“We leave. Now. Sven, take Olaf into the North Mountain,” Kristoff commands. He pulls a piece of paper from a pocket and hands it to Olaf. “Olaf, give this to General Mattias as fast as you can.”  
“I won’t let you down,” Olaf promises, taking the paper and becoming serious.   
He gets on Sven’s back, and the two ride through the streets to the mountain.  
Kristoff turns back to go into the castle. As he runs through the gates into the courtyard, he is grabbed from behind by a figure in dark, royal clothing.  
“Well, well, well,” Ond says, restraining a struggling Kristoff. “Look who we have here.”  
“Help!” Kristoff calls.  
“Shh…” Hans quiets Kristoff, taking a cloth and putting it over Kristoff’s face, holding it there. Slowly, Kristoff stops squirming and fades to unconsciousness.  
“You’ll wake up later,” Ond whispers into Kristoff’s sleeping ear. “This is the beginning of the end. For us all.”  
*~*~*~*  
The Trolls quickly build fires as Elsa extinguishes them.  
“You got this, Elsa!” Anna encourages.  
Swiftly, Elsa puts out the fires.  
“Challenge her!” Grandpabby urges the Trolls. “Give her something she can’t handle!”  
Fires spring up much more quickly than before. Now Elsa struggles to put them out with any speed. It is as if when she puts out one fire, two more appear elsewhere.  
“I can’t do it!” Elsa complains while trying.  
“You just got to focus, Elsa!” Anna pushes her on.  
“Remind why I can’t help again,” Jack says to Anna.  
“It’s her fight, and you helping her doesn’t help anyone,” Anna explains. Redirecting her speech to Elsa, she advises, “One moment at a time! Block everything out!”  
“You’re right,” Elsa becomes determined, pushing everything else out of her mind.  
*~*~*~*  
It’s Time for Me to Shine  
Elsa:  
“I’ve conquered mountains  
And run across oceans.  
I have done so much,  
Yet nothing at all.  
I’ve trekked through forests  
And traveled to glaciers.  
Now I need to push  
Over just one more wall.

Ohhh, ohhh, ohhh  
No matter what happens,  
I will try my best.  
Ohhh, ohhh, ohhh  
I am prepared  
So put me to the test.

It’s time for me to shine,  
To give it one more go  
It’s time for me to shine  
I’ve been gifted with  
The power of snow  
This is why,  
I have to try  
To put my best foot forward  
It’s time for me to shine  
‘Cause it’s up to me to save the world

I am the one who  
I see in the mirror.  
I answer to myself  
As the day draws nearer.  
If I can’t say that  
I gave my everything,  
Then what’s the point  
Of passively trying?

Ohhh, ohhh, ohhh  
The battle gets closer,  
It’s all up to me.  
Ohhh, ohhh, ohhh  
I’m radiating  
Ice and energy.

It’s time for me to shine,  
The least is the best now.  
It’s time for me to shine  
I’m the only one  
With this power around.  
Wisely use,  
Or I will lose.  
I won’t bow down to failure  
It’s time for me to shine  
‘Cause this is my, and only my hour

Give me fire,   
Give me pain.  
Anything,  
It’s all in vain.  
Send me devils,  
Send me night.  
I know I can handle it,  
‘Cause I will win  
The fight.

Ohhh, ohhh, ohhh, yeah!  
It’s time for me to shine,  
To show ‘em what I’m made of,  
‘Cause this moment’s mine  
And I’ll do well  
For the ones that I love  
I will win,  
I’m conquerin’.  
I am not gonna fall!  
I’m going to shine,  
‘Cause it’s my time to shine,  
Oh, it’s my time to shine,  
Get ready, ‘cause you’re gonna get my all!”  
*~*~*~*  
Renewed in mind, Elsa easily vanquishes the fires, quickly subduing each one.  
“Well done, Elsa,” Grandpabby congratulates. “Now--” He puts his hand on his heart as though pained. “I sense something.”  
“Sense what?” Anna asks.  
“He is here,” Grandpabby tells. “I thought we were stronger than this. No. He is too strong. We must hurry if we are going to get back before he emerges.”  
“I’m not leaving until you tell me that Anna’s not adopted,” Elsa puts her foot down, literally. “Where’s the lie?”  
“There is no lie,” Grandpabby tries to explain. “It’s--”  
“What, the truth?” Elsa argues. “I can’t believe your blatant lie because I can’t believe my parents wouldn’t tell us. We had every right to know; no reason not to. And if we’re not actually sisters, then what are we? Close friends?”  
“Elsa--” Anna tries to calm her down.  
“No,” Elsa interrupts. “It also disrespects Father and Mother. They were great parents, not liars like you are.”  
“We can argue later,” Grandpabby says. “There are worse matters at hand.”  
“Fine. Use the wagon as a raft,” Elsa commands. “I’m taking my horse. The water will take you quickly. Anna, take Jack to the people.”  
“I’m going to fight,” Anna argues.  
“No, you’re not,” Elsa denies. “This is my fight, and you’ll get yourself killed.”  
“No, I won’t,” Anna disagrees. “He won’t even have a chance.”  
“Can I say something?” Jack asks.  
“No!” Anna and Elsa respond in unison.  
“You’re not going to fight, and I’ll stop you with my life if I have to,” Elsa puts her foot down, figuratively speaking. She runs off through the trees.  
“That is not the direction of Arendelle,” Jack realizes.  
“Elsa!” Anna tries calling after her sister to no avail.  
“We haven’t a moment to lose,” Grandpabby urges. “We must leave without her. Now.”  
The Trolls quickly become a wagon again as Anna, Jack, and Grandpabby get into the wagon bed. They leave, travelling at a much swifter speed than on the first journey. Time is of the essence.  
*~*~*~*  
Ond tests the door to the dungeon, ensuring it will work smoothly. Everything is coming together. He goes upstairs to wait out Anna’s return. Outside, he sees smoke rising in the streets.  
“This is happening faster than I expected,” he says to himself. “I can make this work to my advantage.”  
*~*~*~*  
Gliding over her own paths of ice, Elsa approaches a dark sea. Confidently, she leaps high over the waters, landing on her nokk. Jerking the reigns to accelerate, she rides off in the direction of Ahtohallan.  
Upon arrival, Elsa charges inside, following the paths she did two years ago, as if committed to memory from a young age. She steps through the triangular threshold which guards the pitch black.   
“Ah-ah, ah-ah,” Elsa sings loudly, trying to arouse the glacier to life. The hidden ice turns blue, but is just ice.  
“Give me answers,” Elsa demands. “Let me look into the past. Show me what really happened.”  
The ice does nothing.  
“Ah-ah, ah-ah!” Elsa sings again. “Can you hear me?! Show me what really happened!”  
Memories flood the icy walls. In each of them, Elsa is young, very young, and not much older than two or three. She is with one or both of her parents or by herself.  
“Mama?” Elsa’s babyish voice asks Iduna in one memory.  
“Yes, dearest?” Iduna puts Elsa’s hair back.  
“Am I ever going to have a brother or sister?” Elsa states her wish.  
“Maybe someday,” Iduna smiles at Elsa’s childlike wonder.  
Deep into Ahtohallan, Elsa hears a baby crying amidst roaring flames. She walks in the direction of the wailing, which is in the dark concaves of the glacier. She hesitates, remembering what happened last time, and remembering that she cannot visit long. A battle is ahead. She runs out of Ahtohallan and mounts her nokk, riding with ultimate speed over the water.  
*~*~*~*  
The sun sets low over Arendelle as Elsa gets close, zipping over the ocean.  
“Oh, no,” she reacts, seeing smoke covering almost the entirety of the fjord. She jerks the reins, and the horse runs faster. Elsa rides into the smoke, sending off quick blasts of snow to evaporate what she can. Little effect is made by her magic, and she has to squint and blink to keep smoke from filling her eyes. She goes past the village and to the castle, leaping off her horse and onto the bridge. She runs into the smoke, continually sending ice and snow into the air in front of her to give her a clear line of sight. Unfortunately, any sight she gets is quickly gone as smoke refills the gaps she makes, though lasting long enough for her to see for an all-too-fast moment. She arrives at the village.  
“Elsa…” a deep, menacing voice says, coming from nowhere and everywhere. “I have been waiting for you.”  
“Come out and show yourself!” Elsa commands, sending ice and snow into every direction to clear the smoke, though her work, as usual, is undone speedily.  
“A force holds me down,” the voice replies. “I cannot ‘show myself’ until I can overcome that force.”  
Elsa makes a dome of snow to protect herself for the moment, now easily getting rid of the smoke inside.  
“Yes… wait…” the voice tells her.


	7. Part VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle between Elsa and Arendelle begins.

Olaf and Sven top a tall hill in the mountains. Down on the other side, temporary tents are pitched, and a makeshift village operates in its nervousness below.  
“Do you see Grandpabby?” Olaf asks Sven, looking around.  
Sven responds by running down to the miniature city. They are basically ignored by the populace as they stroll through town.  
“Maybe he’ll find us,” Olaf comments, looking around.  
“Olaf?” Mattias asks from behind.  
“Oh. I was right,” Olaf says to Sven. “He did find us.”  
“Why are you here?” Mattias inquires. “Is everything all right?”  
“Well, it’s an apocalypse. You know,” Olaf speaks.  
“I took it upon myself to take care of the people,” Mattias informs. “I’ve been kind of the king for the last while now.”  
“Well, I have something for you,” Olaf gets to the subject matter, handing Mattias the note from Kristoff. The general reads it out loud:  
General Mattias:  
There is not much time to write, so I’m just gonna say it. Don’t come back unless we find you first. I give you control and custody of the kingdom of Arendelle until this threat is over.  
“Wow,” Mattias looks up. “Did not see that coming.”  
“What are you going to do?” Olaf asks.  
“We’re going to survive,” Mattias declares.  
“Right…” Olaf responds. “So, what exactly is your plan for that?”  
“Well, much as I want to go and fight for Arendelle, I have to stay here. Not here. Somewhere safer.”  
“Where?”  
“Inland. Deeper into the mountains. We got this place set up pretty quick; I think we can get it taken down and moved even faster.”  
“Mass evacuation?”  
“Is there any other way?”  
*~*~*~*  
“We’re almost there,” Grandpabby declares as the group turns a corner in the woods. For the first time, they can see Arendelle, or, rather, a smoke-covered fjord.   
Grandpabby faints, and the Trolls all fall down.  
“Grandpabby!” Anna holds up his head.  
“Anna…” Grandpabby says weakly. “You have to go on without us.”  
“Wait, what?”  
“Our magic is all that kept us from being merely rocks. Now, our magic is almost gone, used to keep Arendelle underground.”  
“No, no, no, you can’t die on me!” Anna tries to verbally keep him alive.  
“Anna,” Grandpabby gets Anna’s attention. “I have waited till the last moment for this. So you would not let it get to your head. Anna. I told you about your parents… because…”  
“Grandpabby? What is it?”  
“…Because you… can control… Hellion… fi--…”  
Grandpabby falls into a pile of rocks, and the other Trolls do the same. They are gone.  
“No, no, no, no, Grandpabby,” Anna tries to put the rocks back together.  
“Anna…” Jack tells her sentences in one word.  
“I know,” Anna fights back tears.  
“We have to go on without them,” Jack acknowledges. “He said so himself.”  
“Then we run,” Anna declares. “Into fire.”  
Anna and Jack start running for Arendelle, the latter carrying his trademark staff. What is behind them is behind them, and what is ahead is inevitable.  
*~*~*~*  
The sun has almost completely set. Black smoke covers nearly the entirety of the fjord and is beginning to creep up the cliff faces and mountain walls.  
Anna and Jack emerge from the trees on a mountain behind the houses on the steep cliff.  
“There’s Elsa,” Anna finds her sister, a faint blue glow inside the dense smoke.   
“I’m coming with you,” Jack tells Anna. “Any world without Elsa is one that I don’t want to live in.”  
“Is there any stopping you?” Anna inquires.  
“No, there is not,” Jack denies.  
“Fine. Let’s go make sure Elsa is okay. Watch each other’s back.”  
Jack makes a slide of ice going down the cliffs. He and Anna slide down the mountain, Anna much more awkwardly than him. After a fast five seconds, they reach the bottom.   
“Where is she?” Jack asks, trying to evaporate the smoke with snow from his staff. Like Elsa, he cannot.  
“Over there!” Anna points to the blue glow.  
Jack runs for Elsa, and Anna goes to follow him when ropes around her arms restrain her.  
“Anna!” Jack turns around.  
“Go to her!” A struggling Anna commands Jack.  
Jack glances at Elsa then back at Anna. Ond starts leading Anna away forcefully.  
“Now! Be with her! You can win this!” Anna yells as the distance between her and Jack grows.   
Anna and Ond disappear into the smoke. Jack is flustered, not knowing what to do. He ultimately decides to check on Elsa and through the smoke to the ice dome.  
“Elsa, are you okay?” Jack asks desperately, trying to see through the opaque ice.  
“I’m fine,” Elsa’s muffled voice assures from inside. “Where’s Anna?”  
“Someone kidnapped her. She said to check on you.” He tries to break the ice with his staff, but to no avail.  
“Wait, what? Who kidnapped her?” Elsa wants to know.  
“I couldn’t see. She said-- the smoke--”  
“Go! Go find her while there’s still time! Before Arendelle comes!”  
“Errand boy,” Jack says to himself, running back in the direction he had seen Anna taken.  
*~*~*~*  
“We have to move faster,” Mattias says, noticing the rising smoke a few miles away.  
“What do we have to do?” Olaf is ready for the call of duty.  
“I hate to not obey royalty’s commands,” Mattias confesses, “but you go with the people. I’m staying behind with a few fighters. We’re the first line of defense.”  
“But Kristoff said--”  
“I know what he said! …I know what he said. But I think this is the next right thing.”  
“Are you sure, General, that no one is more qualified than I am?”  
“You’ve had more time with the ins and outs of the government than any of us.”  
Olaf shrugs. “If you say so.”  
Mattias grabs a nearby helmet and spear and gives them to Olaf.  
“Can I trust you with these?” Mattias confirms.  
“Is the earth flat?” Olaf responds with a question.  
“No, it is not.”  
“I said that wrong. Yes, you can trust me.”  
“Then go. You’re the last one to leave.”  
Mattias looks around to make sure everyone is gone except for him and five others.  
“Go, Olaf. Arendelle is yours.”  
*~*~*~*  
“Let go of me!” Anna demands as her kidnapper violently forces her inside the castle gates.  
“Look to your right,” Ond commands calmly. “What do you see?”  
Anna looks and sees Kristoff, tied up, and still unconscious.  
“Kristoff!” Anna calls, trying to escape.   
Hans pulls on the ropes, tightening them around Anna.  
“It’s no use,” he tells her. “He’s unconscious, and you can’t escape. It’s over for you.”  
Anna kicks backwards, striking Ond in the shins.  
“You didn’t think I’d take care of that?” He asks Anna, walking her into the castle. “I took the liberty of making myself entirely invincible from any foolish moves. Give up.”  
Effortlessly, despite Anna’s struggles, Hans forces the queen deeper into the castle. They go down a flight of steps, reaching three doors. Ond, pushing Anna into the wall, kicks down the right door. As Anna gets up, Ond regains control and moves her down the steps. At the bottom are ten doors. Ond, not releasing Anna, kicks open the fourth door from the left and pushes Anna inside the room on the other side. He takes the ropes and puts them on a hook, freeing himself to open a hatch on the floor. Down below the trapdoor is an empty room, completely dark. Ond takes Anna, removes the ropes, and pushes her down the hatch. Anna falls ten feet and lands hard on the compact dirt surface.  
“Let me out!” Anna commands with all the fury in her being.  
“My revenge is almost complete,” Ond declares, laughing maniacally and, for the first time, throwing back the cloak’s hood, revealing his face.  
“No…” Anna whispers to herself seeing the evil’s face.  
“It’s been a while, Anna,” Hans grins with all maliciousness the world can muster. “Seven years, you had me in prison. I could only go outside to clean the stalls. But I spent that time wisely, building my strength and making friends of other prisoners. We hatched our masterplan, the Partici Jailbreak. I alone survived, and have come back to finish the job.”  
“Why do you have to be like this?!” Anna screams at him.  
“Ah, face it, Anna,” Hans removes his gloves. “This has been designed perfectly for you to suffer. You saw your husband unconscious, and he’s about to die; you saw your sister waiting for a fight that will end the world if she dies, which is a real possibility that I will facilitate; and you’re about to die a slow, painful death in this cell.”  
“No!” Anna yells with anguish.  
“Do you want to know the truth about your parents?” Hans evilly inquires.  
“I know everything, demon!” Anna shouts up, trying to jump out.  
“Connect the dots,” Hans remains calm. “Your parents were sick because the king and queen poisoned them.”  
“It’s not true!”  
“Look the facts in the face, Anna. Your first parents were killed by the king and queen for their crimes, and they adopted you out of guilt. It was the first and only time they had anybody executed, because of crimes so heinous and deadly that they didn’t even deserve to live.” Hans shrugs. “Have a good rest of your life,” he adds, grinning evilly at Anna, the same look he gave her when he betrayed her seven years ago. He shuts the hatch, blocking any light from reaching the cold, dark cell below.  
“No!” Anna screams in pain to no avail. “No! It can’t end this way!”  
She falls to the ground, acknowledging defeat. She lays on her right side, wrapping her arms and hands around her pulled-in knees.  
“Please,” she begs to no one. “It can’t end this way. No. Please. It’s not true. None of it is true. This can’t be it. It can’t end this way.”  
All the pent-up emotion in Anna pours out. Anger at Hans for his villainous deeds; fear of the deaths of Kristoff and Elsa; fury at the story of the past Hans had told her; worry that nothing could save her now; and, worst of all, how everyone was going to die, and she could not do anything about it. She sobs, not knowing what else to do. Every tear, it seems to her, represents someone she loves or protects, and each leaves her control, as if they had never been hers in the first place. This is it. All she can do is wait for herself to give out. Even if she wanted to do something, she could not. No one knows where she is except Hans, and he is not going to tell anybody. Nothing can happen except the passage of time. With every crying, lamenting breath passes a moment during which Hans is closer to the ultimate revenge and the Hellion returns to enslave everything.  
“No… please…” Anna begs between sobs. “This can’t be happening. It can’t end this way.”  
*~*~*~*  
The Next Right Thing (Reprise)  
Anna:  
“I can’t be there  
To help.  
I’ve been left here to  
Suffer and die.  
Nothing matters now,  
‘Cause this is it.  
All I can do is lie here  
And cry.  
To be freed from this low;  
To relive times so long ago;  
To do the next right thing.”  
*~*~*~*  
“No,” she can hardly speak. “I’ve done all I can. There isn’t a next right thing.”  
She cries again, knowing that, save a miracle, this is it.  
*~*~*~*  
Hans walks swiftly through the halls of the castle to the courtyard as day comes to a close.   
“Unhand me!” Kristoff commands as Hans draws his sword on his stroll to the tied.  
“Give me a reason,” Hans tries him.  
“I will make you pay,” Kristoff threatens. He backs himself against a wall to use as a brace and stands up.  
“Pathetic,” Hans chuckles. “You think you still have a chance to live?”  
Hans runs to Kristoff and swings the sword for his neck. Kristoff easily ducks away, and proceeds to ram his shoulder into Hans, throwing the former prince into the wall. Hans lets go of his sword, dazed after the sudden action from Kristoff. The mountaineer sits by the sword and grabs it with his hands behind his back, cleverly maneuvering it to cut the ropes. Once his arms are free, he effortlessly gets his legs loose. He picks up the sword and points its sharp edge at a fallen Hans.  
“Give me a reason I should let you live,” Kristoff tells Hans.  
“I’ve kidnapped Anna, and I’ll tell you where she is if you don’t kill me.”  
“I want an insurance policy,” Kristoff declares, tying Hans’s hands behind his back. “You will take me to her yourself, and any funny moves and you get the sword. Got it?”  
“I got it, mountain man,” Hans agrees. “Let me make it easy for you. She’s in the dungeon.”  
“I’m bringing you with me.”  
“Fine.”  
Kristoff and Hans move quickly through the castle to the dungeon. Down the first flight of steps, down the second, through the right door, down the last staircase, and inside the fourth day.  
“Anna, are you in here?!” Kristoff asks frantically.  
“Kristoff?!” A surprised voice sounds from below.  
Kristoff ties Hans to one of the other doorknobs.  
“I’m coming, Anna!” Kristoff runs back into the room and opens the hatch. He breaks the door of its hinges and lowers it for Anna to grab onto. She tightly grips the doorknob and outer edge so Kristoff can pull her up.  
“Oh, Kristoff!” Anna hugs the mountaineer, crying. “I thought I’d lost you! I thought I’d lost everybody! I--”  
“Don’t say anything,” Kristoff commands. “I’m here for you.”  
Anna’s shaky breaths echo in Kristoff’s head. Slowly, breath by breath, Anna stabilizes physically and emotionally, as if every time she breathes, she gets back a part of what she believed she had lost.  
“Has Arendelle come yet?” Anna asks Kristoff once she has regained her strength and will.  
“Not yet,” Kristoff replies.  
“Then we need to get ready,” Anna declares. “To fight.”  
“Wait, what?”  
Anna runs upstairs. Kristoff follows, noticing that Hans is gone. But Hans is not his concern. Stopping Anna is.  
“Any way we can help Elsa,” Anna tells him, “we’re going to help. I’m fighting.”  
“She’s the only one who can beat this guy,” Kristoff argues. “She can do it herself. I can’t lose you.”  
“You need to be ready to protect our people if Hans goes after them,” Anna runs through the halls.  
“Hans!” Kristoff remembers. “I left him in the courtyard. He could be anywhere!”  
They quickly ascend a spiral staircase.  
“If Arendelle gets anything going for him,” Anna opens a door, entering a wooden room. “You have to keep our people safe.”  
Anna opens a wooden chest as Kristoff walks in behind her. She finds a sword in its covering inside the chest. She unsheathes it, its metallic sound echoing.  
“Anna, this is crazy,” Kristoff warns his wife as she grabs a shield to go with the sword in her right hand.  
“Are you thick?” Anna asks Kristoff, shoving the weaponry at him and going back to rummage through another chest.  
“I’m just saying,” Kristoff tries to explain, “You can still run. Let me fight. I can’t lose you again.”  
“No,” she says strictly, not looking up from her search. “We stand our ground. We defend everything we’ve worked so hard to earn. He won’t win.”  
Anna throws a helmet over her shoulder, which Kristoff catches, despite his arms being full.  
“It’s a suicide mission,” Kristoff informs, growing angry.   
“Not if no one gets killed,” Anna says. She shuts the chest, stands up, and looks out the lone window as the sun’s last rays go out.  
“Anna, I know you’re the queen and all,” Kristoff argues, “but this. This is crazy. You can’t take on this guy.”  
Anna turns around. Kristoff sees the worry mixed with determination in her eyes. For the first time, he feels true fear.  
“It’s all going to be okay, Kristoff,” Anna says, trying to keep her cool to maintain her husband’s current level of anxious calm. She walks right in front of him and takes the helmet. She polishes it with her sleeve’s end at the side of her wrist, and puts it on Kristoff’s head.  
“What if it’s not?” Kristoff wonders aloud. “What if everyone dies?”  
“We’re not going to die,” Anna says, shaking off the possibility. Looking Kristoff squarely in the eye, she commands, “I’m going to help how I can, and you can, too. You’re going to be fine. I’m going to be fine. We’re all going to be fine. No one is going to die. Now let’s go and finish what we started.”  
The ground shakes violently. Anna and Kristoff fall.  
“I’m back…” an evil voice declares from everywhere and nowhere.  
“Let’s go,” Kristoff says. He runs out of the room, trailed by Anna. He breaks a window with his sword, allowing smoke to fill the hall. He jumps out and is caught by the wind.  
“They’re going to help!” Anna recognizes what is happening. She jumps out, as well, slowly descending to the ground in front of the castle. Kristoff touches down next to her.  
Suddenly, the smoke clears. In an instance, a split-second, it is all gone. On the other side of the village, Elsa evaporates her ice protection. Near the castle, Jack stops running.  
“Ah,” he turns, seeing Anna and Kristoff. “There they are.”  
“Bro!” Kristoff calls, seeing Jack.  
“What up, bro!” Jack calls back, running to catch up with the royal couple.  
“Keep talking!” Elsa yells from across town.   
“Oh, boy,” Anna says in a loud voice, “it sure is unmanly that Jack hasn’t proposed yet!”  
“I’m man enough!” Jack plays along.  
“Then why haven’t you proposed yet?!” Kristoff helps.  
Elsa turns the corner of a building and sees the group.  
“Elsa!” Anna calls, running to meet Elsa. They hug on impact.  
“Assuming we walk like normal people?” Jack asks Kristoff. The guys walk to the girls.  
“If I may break up all the reunion,” Kristoff begins, “the smoke is gone without cause.”  
“But we’re together again,” Anna responds.  
From under the ground of the town, a shadowy, menacing, devilish figure emerges. It stands twenty feet tall and is made of nothing except air. It is humanoid, different in terms of having longer fingers and no eyes. Where there would be eyes are empty holes, the backdrop of the mountains being seen through them. The color of the demonic being is pitch black, darker than regular black. It looks like it is out of a cartoon, a twisted, dark cartoon.   
“Are you…” Arendelle begins, “… the Snow Queen?”  
“Elsa’s not the queen,” Anna tells Arendelle, stepping forward. “I am.”  
“You don’t look like someone who would be the Snow Queen,” Arendelle guesses. “Your hair is red.”  
“I’m the one with the snow powers,” Elsa stands by Anna.  
“And I have them, too,” Jack steps in front of Anna.  
“It was prophesied,” Arendelle informs. “An old legend, stating that the last Hellion would meet the Snow Queen in a battle for control of the Magic Lands, and the winner would be proven to have the power to control the world. Now, I’m here. The final battle has begun.”  
Arendelle shoots dark purple fire at the suspicious people below, who all dive away in time.  
“My weaponry,” Kristoff realizes. “It’s melted.”  
“Elsa, how can we help?” Anna yells, loud due to urgency.  
“Don’t,” Elsa calls back. “Go to safe ground.”  
“No! We’re all fighting with you!” Anna argues.  
“I’m not letting you get hurt,” Elsa proclaims. “The water will keep you safe.”  
“Wait, what?”  
Water comes into the streets and wraps around Anna’s ankles, pulling her back into the fjord.  
“Kristoff!” Anna calls on her retreat.  
“The wind will give you air,” Elsa informs Anna.  
Kristoff tries to run after Anna, but he cannot keep up with the water. Anna is pulled underwater. She swims to the surface, realizing she is breathing normally. She reaches her hand for Kristoff to pull her out, but, while her hand gets above the water’s surface, the water still surrounds her, keeping her from feeling or touching the air. Kristoff attempts to grab Anna’s forearm, but she slips from his grasp easily.  
Meanwhile, Elsa, dazed but unhurt, looks around for Arendelle. Everything is quiet. Aside from splashing in the distance, no sound comes from anywhere. It is as if nothing had happened.  
Suddenly, a shot of purple fire hits Elsa in the back. Falling down, she sends a desperate blast of ice in the direction the fire came from. Again, all is silent.   
Out of the blue, Arendelle rises from the castle courtyard and advances out, as if a ghost. Elsa shoots ice at him, impacting him in the heart. He stumbles, but regains his footing. He sends a stream of fire at Elsa. She dives to avoid it, but it hits a building behind her, engulfing it in flames. In no time at all, the fire spreads from house to house, store to store, building to building. All of Arendelle is covered in flames.   
Elsa sends ice into the flames to extinguish them. Whatever she sends has no effect; if anything, they make the flames angrier. Elsa shoots ice at the fire destroying the building behind her; it does not work. She sends a flurry of ice and snow in every direction, effectively covering the village. Unfortunately, the fire absorbs the cold.   
“It’s just like what you were doing earlier,” she tells herself. “This is your time to shine.”  
She sends ice into the fire once more, each blast temporarily defeating the flames before more heat arises on the ashes of the extinguished.  
Arendelle sends fire from his palms in Elsa’s direction, striking her. She falls back on the ground by the fire. Moving her hair to prevent it from sparking by the nearby flames, she gets up quickly and tries to retaliate, sending snow at Arendelle. He absorbs it with fire in his hand.


	8. Part VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle is decided, but the war continues.

Kristoff sees the fire spreading near him. He dives into the water as the flames swallow the bricks he was just standing on.  
“Kristoff, help me out!” Anna begs, talking as if not underwater.  
Kristoff, holding his breath, puts one arm around Anna and swims up with the other. As he breaches the surface, Anna slips downward from his grasp.  
“It’s no use,” he tells Anna, his voice muffled to her by the water.   
“I have to get out,” Anna explains. “I have to help Elsa.”  
“Anna, let me,” Kristoff pleads. “Clearly, you’re not going anywhere.”  
“But, Kristoff--”  
Kristoff jumps back onto Arendellian land. He looks ahead, and, a few blocks down, Elsa is sending snow into the fire with hand and snow at Arendelle with the other.   
“Elsa!” Kristoff calls.  
She does not respond.  
A coughing sound is heard on Kristoff’s right. He runs to investigate.  
“Help…” a voice begs weakly.  
Cautiously and speedily, Kristoff moves broken bricks and wood out of the way, digging out an ash-covered Jack.  
“Is Elsa okay?” Jack asks, coughing, as Kristoff pulls him to his feet.  
“I saw, and I can’t answer that,” Kristoff replies.   
*~*~*~*  
“I’ve got to get out of here,” Anna tells herself. “I can control Hellion fire. What does that mean? No time to think. Water, let me out!”  
By speaking nothing, the water refutes Anna.  
“Let’s work together,” Anna bargains. “You left the Enchanted Forest to help Elsa. You put out the fire, and I find a way to control it. Something’s got to happen.”  
The water responds by bringing Anna upwards. Finally, she breaks the surface and the water elevates her on the back of the water horse, her shadow on the water illuminated by the moon.   
“Let’s go help Elsa,” Anna calmly tells the horse.   
They jump onto the surface of Arendelle, running through the streets next to the fire. Whatever the horse runs by is temporarily put out, but gradually reignites once in the rear-view mirror.  
“Control Hellion fire,” Anna commands herself. “How?”  
She puts her hand out at the fire, hoping for something to happen. Nothing does. She puts her right hand farther out, holding onto the horse with her left. She almost falls off, but regains her balance.  
Unexpectedly, the fire lizard zips up the horse and onto Anna’s outstretched hand.  
“Not now,” Anna tells it.   
The lizard responds by stamping a foot on Anna’s hand. For a split-second, a magical second, Anna’s veins on her arms glow a medium purple, then fade as quickly as they came. She puts her hand out again and closes her eyes. In a moment of calm, a moment of tranquility amidst the commotion, Anna’s trembling fingers rise slowly in the air. A small portion of the fire rises correspondingly, separating from the rest of the flames. Anna opens her eyes and sees what she is doing. Confused at how she is doing it, and why, yet happy she can, she throws her arm back at the fjord, hurling the flames into the water. For the first time, she gets what it means to control Hellion fire: literally control it. She notices something different about the removal of the flames. Where she moved the inferno from, no fire re-sparks. It is gone, like an air bubble protecting all inside it from everything on the outside. Anna feels herself smiling, proud at herself and relieved she can offer Elsa some much-needed relief.  
“Elsa!” Anna calls, throwing more fire into the sea as the water horse rides onward.   
Elsa is still multitasking Arendelle and, well, Arendelle.  
“Trust me!” Anna commands. “Focus on the Hellion! I’ve got the fire!”  
Elsa concentrates both her hands at the Hellion, who is still absorbing her snow and ice as Anna continues throwing fire into the sea. The doubled intensity of twice as much power surprises Arendelle. He pushes fire at Elsa, and two bursts of power, one snowy and one fiery, meet in midair, hanging, as it seems, for eternity. Neither gaining the upper hand, the two continue their push. Elsa’s eyebrows arch with determination to win the battle. She grimaces, the exertion of power getting to her. Arendelle grins evilly at Elsa’s pain.  
“Give up!” He yells at her. “You’ll never be powerful enough!”  
“No…!” Elsa responds, pushing harder. “I’ve got… the Elements!”  
Howling and screeching, the wind spirals around Arendelle, pushing him in all directions. Like a tree strongly rooted in the ground, he sways, but does not fall, keeping his fire in Elsa’s direction. The earth opens from underneath him; he starts falling down a seemingly endless hole. However, he kicks off the walls and jumps back up to the top, landing on the other side of the village, and sending more fire at Elsa. She counters this capably with another blast of snowy power. She runs at him. Both stop their advances of their respective powers and start individual strikes, almost as if sending pilots into anti-aircraft zones. Elsa sends a blast of power at Arendelle’s left, which he swiftly destroys with fire. He sends another shot at Elsa, which gets close to her. Fortunately, she encases it in ice, stopping in her tracks a couple blocks away. She begins shooting ice and snow, alternating with each hand, at Arendelle in rapid-fire succession. He meets with the same, easily countering each mini-attack from the tiny human below. Every blast of power Elsa sends at Arendelle is absorbed by heat.  
Anna and the water horse finish putting out the fire as Anna throws the last ball of flames into the fjord. The water horse evaporates, and Arendelle is now a pile of rubbish and ash, chopped planks and broken bricks in piles where homes and businesses used to stand. Now everyone can see Arendelle strongly countering everything Elsa throws at him.   
The wind tries to hit Arendelle again, this time moving much more swiftly. He struggles to maintain his balance, stopping fire with one hand to balance himself. While the wind is blowing, the earth starts shaking under him. He falls, all his fire stopping. Elsa sends ice at him, striking him in the heart. For the first time, he groans in pain, a sensation he has not felt in millennia, if at all.   
“Give up or I’m going to kill you,” Elsa threatens.  
“Give up?” Arendelle chuckles. “When I’ve waited thousands of years?”  
“Okay, guys,” Elsa tells the spirits, “let’s give it another push.”  
Magical swirls fly through the air, one blue, one brown, one red, and one wispy. They zip around a confused Arendelle, confused at the sudden appearance of wisps in the sky, as anyone would be. Each swirl shoots upwards, then dives into the ground, impacting hard. From where each swirl entered the streets rise the water horse, an earth giant, the fire lizard, and a tornado.   
Arendelle looks around with confusion and terror, not knowing what is going to hit him.   
The tornado advances, picking up Arendelle and bringing him high into the air. The fire lizard sets the enormous fist of the earth giant on fire, and the behemoth uses its fist to smash Arendelle deep into the ground. The water horse runs around the hole made by the giant, filling it with water. Elsa sends ice to cover the hole, creating the perfect trap, and perfect death.  
“Elsa, is that it?” Anna asks her sister.  
Silence. Elsa just stares at the trap.  
“Elsa?” Anna wants an answer.  
The wind, naturally, blows coolly, almost whistling. It is the only sound. It only blows for a fleeting moment. However, a few seconds feel like an eternity of emptiness, spent searching for answers to questions that were never asked.  
“I think he might be gone,” Elsa says after a minute. Doubt is in her voice, though.  
“Elsa, you don’t sound sure of it,” Anna accuses. “Are you sure he’s gone?”  
“I--” Elsa begins.  
Suddenly, a fiery explosion blows from the covered hole. Arendelle rises, standing on nothing. Screaming terrifyingly, he sends fire in rapid succession at the water horse, evaporating it; at the earth giant, who crumbles into boulders and rocks; at the fire lizard, who jumps into the fjord to hide; and into the air. In the air, the fire circles around an isolated point and gets sucked into that point like a black hole. Once it has all disappeared, the fire is released in an explosion.  
Elsa puts her hand on her heart.  
“He killed the spirits,” she realizes. “Anna, go. Run. Now.”  
“I’m not leaving you, Elsa,” Anna denies.  
“And now,” Arendelle says to Elsa, “I’m going to kill you.”  
Arendelle’s fists and forearms set on fire. Elsa sends ice at him, which he knocks away with his fist. She sends a constant, never-ending stream of snow at him, easily and painlessly absorbed by his fists. Elsa doubles and triples its intensity. Arendelle does not flinch.   
“Elsa, help!” A voice calls from inside the castle’s gates. It is Hans, trapped in a pile of rubble. She remembers what he said to her only days before:  
“Six years… Trapped. Alone. No one to be there for me.”  
Elsa remembers the kiss, and, her sympathetic feelings reemerging, she sends a blast of ice at the entrapped Hans, the impact destroying and knocking away the barriers. Arendelle uses this time to get up, his entire body bursting into flames.  
“And now, Snow Queen,” he says calmly as Elsa becomes noticeably worried, “you will die.”  
Elsa sends another stream of snow and ice at Arendelle’s heart, signaling for Anna to run. Anna goes to Kristoff and Jack, who are running to the girls to help.   
“Guys, where were you?” Anna asks once she catches up to the boys.   
They turn around to go to Elsa.  
“Jack got the worst of it,” Kristoff explains, “and he needed a minute. Figured there wasn’t anything I could do.”  
“Well, you’re right,” Anna confirms. “No offense.”  
Unflinching, Arendelle takes in another attack, Elsa’s powers having no effect. He makes a giant fireball and shoots it at Elsa. Its impact throws her high and far away, to the top of the mountain which backdrops the kingdom. Arendelle laughs to himself.  
“Elsa, no!” Jack calls, sending a shot of ice at Arendelle, easily absorbed.  
Elsa, moving through the still night air, hears her lover’s call. She grabs her bracelet on her right wrist with her left and closes her eyes, preparing for the inevitable impact. She lands hard at the top of the mountain. Fire goes up all around her and on her. The battle is over.  
“No!” Anna calls. Full of fury at what obviously looks like Elsa’s death, she tries to move the fire that is Arendelle. The Hellion laughs at Anna, shooting fire at her. A desperate jump away is all she can do to avoid it.  
“You’ve lost!” Arendelle laughs maniacally. “Your Snow Queen is gone, and you’ve got nowhere to run!”  
“If I may,” Hans emerges from the castle gates putting on gloves, walking to the group.  
“Speak, fool,” Arendelle tells Hans. “Give me a reason not to kill you.”  
“You turned,” Hans takes sarcastic offense. “Anyway, given our position and my unending thirst for revenge, let me kill Anna.”  
Anna gasps as Kristoff steps in front of her.  
“You’ll have to get through me first,” Kristoff defends Anna.  
“Let’s dance,” Hans draws his sword to kill the defenseless.  
Hans pushes through Kristoff and grabs Anna, holding his sword at her neck.  
“Nice seeing you all,” Hans says as he drags Anna away.  
“No!” Kristoff runs after Hans to stop him, and Jack runs after Kristoff. Arendelle makes a ring of fire around Kristoff and the Jack, trapping them. Jack tries to use his powers to destroy the fire, but it does not work.  
Suddenly, the sound of crackling ice is heard everywhere. Somewhere high up, in the flames at the top of the mountain, Elsa gets up and rises from the fire like a phoenix. Her figure a shadow in the flames to the people below, she puts out the fire with a snowy flick of her wrist, still floating in the air. A medium-bright blue streak appears in her hair, taking form the same way Anna’s hair changed color so many years ago.   
“Elsa!” Kristoff calls.  
“That’s hot,” Jack says to himself.  
“If you kill me,” Arendelle calls to Elsa, “you’ll kill them, too. Kill me, and my fire is gone, and they’re too close to the edge, no matter where they stand. The explosion would slaughter them.”  
Elsa does not verbally respond. The look on her face is one of almost apathy, yet with a determination to end the fight. This is it.   
She sees Kristoff trapped in the fire, but, more importantly, Jack. She remembers their first meeting after she left Arendelle to train:  
“I’m fine, now that I’m with you.”  
She remembers the kiss they shared and all the good times they have had together. His spontaneous gifts, helping her when she needed it, and unconditional love. Everything floods over Elsa’s mind.   
“I can’t let him die,” she tells herself quietly.  
She glides downward at a rapid speed, an ever-lengthening slide of ice under her feet. She whizzes right past Arendelle, striking his arm with an icy fist. Roaring in hurt, Arendelle destroys the ice bridge around him shoots fire at Elsa, but it goes behind her; she is too fast, her ice having already found new ground with which to support itself. She flies by the fire around Kristoff and Jack, putting the flames out like a firehose would.   
“Let’s go get Anna,” Elsa tells them.  
“We’ll get her,” Jack says. “Stay and fight.”  
The boys run for the mountain.  
Elsa, still zipping through the air, shoots ice at Arendelle’s head, freezing it. The Hellion puts his hands on the ice, melting it. As Elsa flies overhead as Arendelle sends more fire at her. It floats into space, missing Elsa entirely. Stopping in midair, Elsa starts sending alternating blasts of winter from each hand at Arendelle, each one impacting on him harshly and quickly, preventing him from responding. Three strikes, four strikes, five strikes. The Hellion slowly starts going down with each hit. Up to ten. The momentum is Elsa’s.  
With a screeching roar, Arendelle gets up. He sends a cloud of fire at Elsa. She flies from its path and straight to Arendelle, icily kicking him in the face with both feet. He turns around quickly, sending yet another stream of flames at Elsa. His rapid turnaround pays off: Elsa is hit, and she spirals to the ground, impacting hard on the brick street. Arendelle attempts to take advantage of this, releasing a blaze of fire at the grounded Elsa. She puts a hand up to counter it, sending ice to meet the fire. It works, buying her a moment to stand up while defending herself. Breathing quickly, sweating, she sets her feet, ready to make one last stand as Arendelle ceases his onslaught.  
“You have fight, I’ll give you that,” Arendelle tells Elsa, pushing away a shot of ice with an enflamed fist. His body bursts into flames. Snow starts swirling around Elsa’s hands.  
“I have to do this,” she tells herself, fending off a flame. “For Sven.”  
She fights off another shot.  
“For Olaf.”  
She absorbs a blast of flames.  
“For Kristoff.”  
Two streams of fire are taken, one by each hand.  
“For Anna.”  
The outline of blue diamonds start appearing all over Elsa as the onslaught continues and intensifies.   
“For Jack.”  
Arendelle’s eyes combust and, laughing with evil, he gradually builds and sends a hundred-foot tall firewall at Elsa.  
“You forgot one thing,” Elsa tells Arendelle.  
“And what would that be?” Arendelle asks sarcastically.  
“I’m the Snow Queen,” Elsa declares as snow starts floating around her while the firewall advances.  
“You’re nothing!” Arendelle taunts.  
“I.” Elsa faces the advancing wall.  
“Am.” The wall reaches its fullest height, instantly glowing a much brighter red than it had been.  
“The Snow Queen.”  
The diamonds glow at their brightest as Elsa moves her foot on the ground. A blue crystal snowflake appears on the ground under Elsa as the streets ice over. The ice continues all around the fjord and up the mountains around the kingdom. Arendelle sends fireballs at Elsa, but she does not flinch, absorbing their impact as she becomes luminescent. She quickly forms two branchless trees, each about as tall as the Hellion, on either side of her. She evaporates them, sending their cold contents at Arendelle. They strike him hard, and he falls backwards. Elsa, with both hands and all her strength, sends one large blizzard at Arendelle as he gets up. He looks up and sees the incoming snowstorm.   
“No!” He screams as he is hit. His being is sucked into a point. From this point, a snowy explosion originates, sending sparkly snow into the sky to fall at an expected pace to the ground. Trees of ice stand where buildings did, and the rubble of the burned buildings is gone. Ice blankets the waters. Ice crystals hang in the air, not unlike those which woke the Spirits. The sky is clear, and the moon’s light reflects on the ice snowflake under Elsa’s feet. She has won.  
*~*~*~*  
Hans is violently forcing Anna up the mountain.  
“Let go of me!” Anna tries to squirm loose, but Hans’s hands are iron clamps.  
“Queen Anna!” A voice calls in the distance ahead.  
“I’m kidnapped!” Anna responds.  
“You just won’t make this easy, will you?” Hans rolls his eyes. Holding onto Anna with one hand, he draws his sword with the other.   
Anna tries to kick and punch Hans, but he does not flinch. She may as well be fighting a statue.  
Six men reach the top of a small hill in front of Hans and Anna.  
“Let her go,” Mattias commands, putting his sword and shield in front of himself.  
The other fighters do the same.  
“One against six,” Hans chuckles. “And I have the queen. So, I fight with one hand, but you won’t dare get near me so you don’t hurt her.”  
“Don’t listen to him!” Anna tells Mattias. “Get Hans at all costs!”  
“Not at the risk of your life,” Mattias responds. Turning to Hans, he says, “You don’t want this to get ugly.”  
“Oh, I don’t mind,” Hans grins. “I quite enjoy it.”  
Hans, dragging Anna, charges the defenders. Three swords meet his own. With one mighty push, he forces the swords out of the defenders’ hands. One drops his shield to get Anna, but he pays the price: Hans’s sword impales him, and he rolls down the mountain. Again, Anna tries to wiggle loose, but Hans will not allow it.  
Hans, with unbelievable, inhuman strength, forces the shield out of the hand of another defender, quickly outdueling him with the sword. The Arendellian is cut on the shoulder.  
“Get out of here,” Mattias, stepping in, tells the injured. “You can’t do anymore good.”  
“Neither can you,” Hans taunts Mattias.  
The four fighters for Arendelle form the corners of a square around Hans, slowly circling the kidnapper. One man runs at Hans from behind. The former prince whips around and hits the shield with such force that the runner goes to the ground, unconscious.  
Anna tries to get free, but cannot.  
“Take care of him!” She commands one soldier. “Take him to wherever the rest of you are!”  
“Less fighters,” Hans comments, stepping away from the struck.  
The unconscious soldier is carried away by the commanded.  
“Three left,” Hans readies for the fight.  
Anna roundhouse-kicks Hans in the face. His hand loosens for her to turn, but not enough for her to get away. Anna only strikes the metal.  
“I guess striking fear and hiding scars weren’t the only benefits,” Hans realizes as two soldiers close in quickly on either side. He simply steps back, and the soldiers hit each other’s armor. They fall to the snowy ground, and, with a forceful foot, Hans kicks one with such violence that he crashes into the other soldier, and they go tumbling down the hills.  
“I guess it’s just you and me,” Mattias says to Hans.  
“Let’s dance,” Hans charges Mattias. Their swords meet with a loud, resounding crash, echoing through the mountains. Hans throws Anna onto the ground with extreme hardness, using his free hand to grab Mattias’s shield as he swings his sword. Mattias falls backwards to avoid Hans, but loses his shield to the kidnapper in the process.  
Meanwhile, Anna slowly gets up from the snow. She realizes that she is free from Hans, and, because he is not watching, she tries to run into the mountains.   
Hans, however, cleverly using his internal clock, knows Anna is running. He chases after her, sword in his right hand and shield in his left. Mattias gets up and chases after Hans.  
Anna does not dare to look back. The snow on the ground provides light by reflecting the moon, allowing limited vision. She pushes away one branch and jumps over another, the trees thick in the lands without path. She leaps over a log, keeping stride. She cannot look back. She cannot stop running. Hans is out there, and she needs to get as far away from him as possible. Fortunately, no branches obstruct the path ahead, so running is all that needs to be done. So, she runs. One second passes. Two seconds. Three. Each feels like its own eternity. Four seconds. It might as well be four years. Five. How long has she been running? Thirty seconds? Ten minutes? Time is distorted to her.  
Suddenly, she feels herself almost falling as an arm wraps around her from behind. Hans has caught up to her, turning around to wait for Mattias.  
“I planned on you getting away,” Hans spills. “It gives me the tactical advantage of fixed position, and you the exertion to stop fighting me.”  
Anna tries to free herself.  
“Ah, ah, ah,” Hans warns. “You don’t want me to have to use this, do you?” He refers to his sword.   
Mattias emerges from the nearby trees in front of Hans.   
“I’ll give you one more chance,” Mattias bargains. “Let her go.”  
“I don’t think so,” Hans replies.  
“General, don’t fight,” Anna begs selflessly. “Save yourself. Don’t risk yourself for me.”  
“I’ve been willing to for forty years,” Mattias tells Anna. “Why would I stop now?”  
Hans drops his sword and pulls a small vial from a coat pocket. Mattias takes Hans’s moment of defenseless as a chance to attack. He raises his sword and runs at Hans. Just as he begins lowering his sword, Hans hits him in the face with the vial, the glass shattering but not puncturing. The contents of the vial, however, render him unconscious.  
“Let’s go,” Hans says. He whistles for a horse, and a brown horse gallops through the woods to the call. Hans, one-handed so as to not let go of Anna, mounts the horse and rides off into the night.  
*~*~*~*  
Kristoff and Jack, running uphill, in the snow, through trees, as fast they can, see a body ahead of them.  
“Oh, please don’t be Anna,” Kristoff fears the worst.  
They reach the body and see that it is Mattias. Kristoff slaps him in the face, bringing him to consciousness with an inhalation.  
“What happened?” Jack asks anxiously.  
“Hans took six of us out, one-handed,” Mattias reports groggily, rubbing his forehead.  
“Where did he go?” Kristoff inquires.  
“No idea,” Mattias says. “But he was going up the mountain when we found him, so I’d guess he’s somewhere uphill. Leave me. I can take care of myself.”  
“Are you sure?” Kristoff confirms.  
“Go,” Mattias commands.  
Obediently, Kristoff and Jack run up the mountain, hoping for the best.


	9. Part IX: Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final episode of this fanfiction is decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, let me know in the comments what you like/dislike about the fanfic. Also, if you want to see more of my fanfic if you liked this, I've got more, let me know!

The horse, carrying Hans, who is restraining Anna, stops in its tracks just before Elsa’s ice palace.  
“What do you want from me?!” Anna demands to know.  
“Well, if we’re found,” Hans explains, “I can use you as leverage. No one will get close to you, so I’ll use you as a shield. Not literally, I’m not that bad.”  
He ties Anna’s arms and legs, then ropes her against a tall, thin rock facing the castle. Behind her back, he puts a rope around her hands, keeping the backs of them against the rock.  
“And now,” Hans tells the horse, “I can’t have you running away or warning any guests, so, well…”  
“You’re going to kill a horse?!” Anna expresses her dismay.  
“I’ve been willing to kill people,” Hans replies, hilariously pushing the horse off the edge of the cliff. “A horse won’t stand between me and complete revenge.”  
The ground shakes with the stomps of a behemoth.  
“Ah, yes,” Hans reacts. “I forgot about that. Stay here, I’ll just be a moment.”  
Hans draws his sword and runs to the bottom of the staircase. Ahead is an army of Snowgies in front of Marshmallow, ready to defend their home against the aggressor.  
The Snowgies, screaming in their high-pitched voices, run down the staircase. Hans sweeps them off the mountain and down the canyon with his sword, and kicks a few off, as well. Within seconds, the small snowmen are gone, and the big one remains. Roaring with fury Marshmallow jumps the staircase. Hans is ready, and, in the same manner as five years before, cuts Marshmallow’s right leg off. This time, however, he goes further, amputating the left leg, as well. Marshmallow quickly falls, and Hans pushes him by the remaining snow legs off the mountain.  
“There,” he says to himself. “You can’t rebuild that snowman.”  
“How did you find out about my parents?!” Anna yells at him.  
“It’s simple, really,” Hans replies. “Sneak into the castle, learn where everything is, and find information in the archives that will hurt people.”  
“You’re a monster,” Anna accuses.  
“Maybe,” Hans agrees, “but a really good one.”  
Hans walks to the edge of a cliff, around which anyone who wants to visit the ice palace must pass. Anna cannot see him, or any newcomers, without really turning her head back and to the right. Hans is in position; now he just has to wait for his prey.   
*~*~*~*  
Hours pass. Kristoff and Jack, at approximately four in the morning, near the ice castle as the Northern Lights dance in the night sky.  
“They couldn’t have gone much farther,” Kristoff guesses as the boys advance towards the waiting Hans.  
“Are you sure they went this way?” Jack asks.  
“They had to have,” Kristoff replies. “This is the only place in these mountains Hans knows how to navigate. I think.”  
“We’re taking an awful risk,” Jack comments.  
“But it’s the best risk at the moment,” Kristoff ends the conversation.   
The last words are detected by Hans, who slowly pulls his sword out from its place at his right hip.  
“It’s just around here,” Kristoff says as he comes within feet of Hans.  
Anna hears him.  
“Kristoff, it’s an ambush!” She calls, just in the nick of time.  
As Hans swings, Kristoff jumps backwards. Hans gets all coat, creating a large tear in Kristoff’s clothing. Hans strikes again, his greed for revenge propelling his arms. As Kristoff jumps backwards, and accidentally onto Jack, Hans’s sword hits rocky cliff wall and becomes stuck. Kristoff gets up and pulls Jack to his feet, running to help Anna, and jumping over Hans’s outstretched foot with the intention to trip while trying to dislodge his weapon.  
“Kristoff, untie me!” Anna begs as Kristoff and Jack run to her.  
“What did she think you were going to do?” Jack quietly asks Kristoff.  
“Probably make a hot cup of tea or something,” Kristoff repsonds.  
“I can hear you,” Anna informs them.  
Speedily, the boys untie the ropes, freeing Anna.  
“Now,” Anna says, “let’s go get that son of a b--”  
“It’s free!” Jack notices Hans pulls his sword out of the rocks and starts running for the three.  
“Hurry,” Kristoff commands. “Into the castle.”  
Anna, Kristoff, and Jack walk quickly up the staircase, walking to keep balance on the ice.   
While running to the stairs, Hans bends down and throws a large volume of snow to the stairs to use to plant his feet. He skips lower steps as the trio enter and locks the castle. Hans runs up the rest of the stairs, almost slipping once, and he kicks in the doors. Waiting against the wall on either side of the gates are Kristoff and Jack. Because they are behind the open-inward doors, Hans cannot see them. He looks around, slowly advancing.   
Once he has crossed the length of the open doors, Kristoff and Jack run at Hans. He hears them, and he turns and thrusts his sword into Kristoff’s stomach as he ducks under Jack. Kristoff falls to the ground, covering his wound. Jack gets down to attend to him.  
“Get… Hans…” Kristoff says weakly. “One of us can live.”  
From the balcony, Anna leaps over the railing and into the snow in front of the staircase. She sees Hans inside.  
“Hey, Hans!” She calls, getting the attention on herself. “Come and get me!”  
Hans turns and sees Anna. Suddenly, his sword is struck from behind. It is now covered in ice.  
“Leave her alone,” Jack tells Hans, setting his feet to prepare for a fight.  
“She’s not going anywhere,” Hans predicts. “I’ll take care of you easily.”  
Hans and Jack charge each other, the sword and staff clanging metallically upon contact. The two fighters slide across the ice away from each other. From afar, Jack sends ice over Kristoff’s wound, providing temporary relief.  
“You think I’m going to kill him?” Hans responds. “I want him to suffer. I want all of you to suffer.”  
Hans and Jack run at each other again, this time not sliding past each other. Their weapons hit and strike, Jack’s staff emitting ice in random directions when impacted. Five strikes. Six. Less than five seconds feels like an eternity. Neither fighter can gain the upper hand as the weaponry continues to meet.   
Ten seconds, eleven. Fast, furious fighting. Suddenly, Hans gains the upper hand, stabbing Jack as he did Kristoff. However, this stab goes through Jack’s staff, breaking it in two.  
“No!” Anna calls, having seen the action unfold from below. Hans just laughs as Anna starts running up the staircase.  
“A three-for-one special,” Hans says to himself. “You can’t beat that.”  
He runs down the staircase and meets up with Anna, who quickly turns around and jumps back down.  
“Survive, Anna!” Kristoff calls from inside the castle.   
Jack reaches for his staff weakly, just now noticing its fracture. He knows it will not work, and all he can do is wait.  
Anna starts running for the path that she had tried to climb past years before. Hans, however, catches up to her quickly, swinging his sword for her head. She ducks to avoid it, falling to the snow in her efforts. Hans tries to jab his sword into her heart, but she rolls to her side to avoid it, and starts moving backwards, basically crab-walking. Hans follows her, his sword pointed at her. Clouds cover the Northern Lights, and snow begins to come down as the wind makes its presence known. Hans backs Anna against one of the many large rocks on the mountain range. She is sitting against the rock now, held in place by Hans’s pointed sword.  
“You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this!” Hans proclaims. “And I’m going to make you suffer.”  
Anna winces and leans as far back as she can against the rock, knowing the worst, and last, is about to come. One second passes. Two seconds. It feels like an eternity.  
Instead of raising his sword, Hans jabs it forwards, intending to do to Anna what he did to Kristoff and Jack. Anna ducks to the left. Hans misses. He then attempts to do the same thing. Anna responds by quickly moving back to where she had just been pinned, avoiding the weaponry.  
“You’re feisty, I’ll give you that,” Hans says to Anna.  
“I’ll do what I have to,” Anna replies.  
Slowly, Hans moves his pointed sword at Anna. She tries to duck to the right, but he puts his sword where she wanted to go at neck-level. Anna tries to go left, but Hans blocks her again. He puts the tip of the blade within inches, within an inch, of Anna’s neck. She holds her head up as high as she can, trying to distance herself from the sword.  
“You really just can’t give up, can you?” Hans chuckles.  
Without warrant, he puts his foot on Anna’s right leg, pushing it at an angle to the ground. After a painful moment, Anna falls to the side, loudly grunting in pain.  
“How shall we do this?” Hans wonders. “I’ll let you go free if you give me what I want. Interrupt or try to stop me, and you’re dead. Do you understand, ‘queen’?”  
Anna does not respond. Rather, she musters what strength she can, and sits back up against the rock, hardly moving her right leg, if at all.   
Hans infers agreement and puts his sword’s blade at Anna’s neck again, the blade within half of an inch of it.  
“I want money,” Hans begins. “Lots of it. All you have. I want your land. The fjord, the mountains, down to the last slime-covered toadstool. And I want your position. Make me king of Arendelle. Or I will take the more… historically traditional route.”  
Again, Anna keeps her silence.  
“Fine,” Hans says. “You asked for it.”  
Anna’s hair, which she has tied into dual braids, is undone by Hans’s sword. Cutting just above the ties, Anna’s hair is cut, and is now maybe three-fourths of its original length.  
“Don’t look so mad,” Hans sees Anna’s anger. “It’s a good look for you.”  
“I can live without my hair,” she responds through clenched teeth.  
“That is true,” Hans acknowledges. “But can you live without blood?”  
He puts his sword in its sheath on his belt and pulls from an inner coat pocket-- the pockets of evil, evidently-- an old-fashioned pistol.  
“What’s that?” Anna asks, scared and trembling.”  
“The end,” Hans replies. He fires the pistol, shooting Anna on her right side, an inch or two above her waist. She falls on her side to try to cover the wound.   
“You… bi--” she retaliates.  
“Save it,” Hans shrugs. “I know your insult, and I’ve been called worse. By, say, your sister.”  
Anna grunts. “Elsa?”  
“Those errands in the bakery? Those were for me. I proposed we could take over the world together, what with her power and my mind. I offered a second meeting, which she came to, I can only presume to find out about power, what with the fate of the world resting on her shoulders. I played her for the fool she is, got on her good side. And that’s not even the best part. I kissed her.”  
“You son of a--”  
“Relax, you already said that. I knew that if I got on her good side, she wouldn’t kill me. I struck a chord with her, related to her about her lonely past that you caused.”  
Tears start rolling down Anna’s face. “That’s not true,” she protests.  
“Anyway,” Hans continues, “I snuck into the castle and learned where the dungeon was. Figured I might snoop around and learn some dirt to make your life worse. I guess it worked.”  
“It’s a lie,” Anna manages to say, starting to become pale.  
“Then, I put myself in a vulnerable position during the battle. I got Elsa’s attention, letting Arendelle gain the upper hand. As you can see, it didn’t work out. My original plan didn’t work out. I would’ve poisoned you and watched from a distance, but this is--” Hans chuckles-- “so much more gratifying.”  
Anna’s breathing starts to slowly become lethargic.  
“Don’t worry,” Hans says. “I’ll put you out of your misery.”  
He raises his sword to deliver the final blow. Anna closes her eyes tightly and turns her head. As Hans’s sword gets closer and closer to her neck, Anna’s life flashes before her eyes: being hit by Elsa, falling for Hans, meeting Kristoff, being struck by Elsa again, Olaf saving her, entering the Enchanted Forest, boating past the Earth Giants, almost falling off the dam, Kristoff’s proposal, seeing Elsa’s bracelet, learning about her adoption, and controlling Arendelle’s fire. Now, it feels, all for nothing. Surely, Kristoff and Jack are dying, if they have not already gone. And now, she is about to die. Hans’s sword gets closer. Within a foot. Eight inches. Six. Four. Three. Two. One.  
Suddenly, the sword stops within half an inch of her neck. She reluctantly opens her eyes to see what happened. The weapon, still held by Hans, is encased in ice, as is its wielder. Anna looks up and sees Elsa, having just come around the rock before the opening in front of the staircase.  
“Anna, are you okay?!” Elsa runs to help her sister. She gets down by Anna and turns her over, who groans in weakness at movement. Elsa looks worriedly at Anna’s wound.  
“Elsa…” Anna says weakly, “Kristoff and Jack are in the castle. They need you. They’re also--”  
Anna whimpers and puts her left hand over her wound.  
“No, no, no, no, Anna,” Elsa says. “You’re not dying. Not on my watch.”  
Elsa puts her hand under Anna’s and spreads ice over the cut. Anna smiles weakly.  
“The cold feels good,” she reports.  
“Anna, are you going to die?” Elsa asks.  
“Not now,” Anna manages to say weakly. “Go help the boys.”  
“Anna, I’m not leaving you.”  
“Elsa, I’m begging. Go. Help them.”  
“Elsa?!” Jack calls from inside the castle.  
“Elsa. Please,” Anna goes on.  
“I’ll be right back,” Elsa assures, quickly ascending the castle stairs. Once she is inside, she sees Jack, laying on the surface right in front of her.  
“Oh, Jack,” Elsa gets down by him.  
“Ice. Wound,” Jack manages to say.  
Elsa sees what he means and puts ice over his wound.  
“Leave me now,” Jack commands.   
“Jack--”  
“Elsa, I’m going to be fine. Check Kristoff and Anna. Is she okay?”  
“I don’t know,” Elsa cannot give a definite response.   
“I’m fine for now,” Kristoff affirms, getting up slowly. “Go to Anna.”  
Elsa obeys and returns back to Anna, who is unmoved since Elsa left her.  
“Anna…” Elsa whispers to herself, holding Anna close to her as the latter drifts on the cusp of consciousness. Quietly, Elsa reprises “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”:  
“Anna. You are almost gone now.  
It’s because I was too slow.  
I needed to be there for you,  
To rescue you,  
Please. I can’t let you go.  
Just give me one more chance  
To not shut you out.  
Don’t let it end this way.”  
She starts crying a little. “Do you want to build a snowman?”  
“Elsa--” Anna draws a shallow breath.  
“Don’t talk, Anna,” Elsa commands. “The boys’ll be out in a minute.”  
“Arendelle’s yours,” Anna says quickly, her head falling lifelessly to gravity.  
“Anna, wake up,” Elsa commands in a panic. “Please, wake up, wake up, no, no, no, no, no, no, Anna. Anna!”  
No response.  
“Anna,” Elsa whispers to herself, holding Anna’s body close and crying into Anna’s hair.  
From afar, ethereal diamonds, four of them, float through the air at breakneck speed up the North Mountain. They slow down as they approach Elsa and Anna. The diamonds, colored blue, red, brown, and white, descend onto Anna’s lifeless hands and absorb into nothing.   
Kristoff and Jack stumble out of the castle.  
“Anna!” Kristoff calls down the steps. “Are you okay?”  
Elsa ignores him.  
“Elsa, what happened?” Kristoff presses the matter, hobbling down the stairs to Elsa.  
“She’s gone,” Elsa cries.  
“Wait, what?” Kristoff brings Anna to himself, expressionless in shock. “Please, please, no,” he says lowly.  
Suddenly, the backs of Anna’s hands glow, and Anna wakes up, taking a deep breath.  
“Anna?!” Elsa can hardly believe it.  
“It’s okay,” Kristoff assures Anna, hugging her tightly.  
“I’m not,” Anna contradicts. “I need medical attention. I’m like ninety-nine percent sure he broke my leg, and I don’t feel so good.”  
“We’ll get you what you need,” Kristoff still has Anna in his arms.  
*~*~*~*  
Inside the castle, which is the one building still standing, Anna is in bed, carefully reading a journal. Each line more intense than the last, Anna cannot believe the words on the paper. But she has to. This journal was written by her father. But how could she trust him when he kept such a big secret from her? She reads for hours, all sorts of questions jumping about in her head.  
As she closes the journal, looking up contemplatively, a knock is heard on the door.  
“Who cares about danger when there’s love?” Elsa asks from the other side.  
“Come in,” Anna consents.   
Elsa opens the door and walks in. The blue streak is still in her hair, and will be for the rest of her life. “Are you feeling okay?” She asks Anna. “Olaf and, like, three other doctors didn’t think you’d be up for a while.”  
“Yeah,” Anna confirms. “I’m okay.”  
“You’ll need to be in bed for several weeks, on top of the two you’ve already spent.” Elsa reports. “Hans got you pretty good. They say you lost a lot of blood.”  
“That’s fine,” Anna agrees. “It’s not like being queen is hard. The advisors do sixty-five percent of stuff, anyway.”  
“What did he use anyway, a cannon?” Elsa asks.  
“I have no idea,” Anna rejects. “I’d never seen anything like it.”  
“What about your leg?” Elsa checks.  
“Eh. It still hurts,” Anna conveys. “But it’s not as bad as it has been. It’ll get better.”  
“Were you able to learn anything about your parents?” Elsa wonders.  
“A lot,” Anna responds. “A lot. Sit down, let me tell you.”  
As Anna talks, Elsa pictures everything in her mind, taking everything her sister tells her as truth.  
“My parents,” Anna begins, “were leaders of a cult called the Righteous Fire. They knew that Arendelle was coming back, so they tried to warn your parents.”  
“Our parents,” Elsa corrects.  
“Let me finish,” Anna goes on. “Our parents wouldn’t have an audience with them because they thought they were all a bunch of crazies. So, the Righteous Fire started burning buildings to get our parents to notice. They kidnapped people, rioted, stole from the castle. Finally, Father consented to hearing them. They said that they possessed the power to control Hellion fire. How, I don’t know. But anyway, Father still wouldn’t listen to them, so he talked with Grandpabby. Grandpabby said what they were saying was true, and that the Trolls were keeping Arendelle underground and that he wasn’t a problem. Father trusted the Trolls, so he had all of the Righteous Fire killed for acts of treason.   
“But later, when Father and Mother were going through my birth parents’ house, they found me, tucked away in a closet with a note that said that they passed all the Righteous Fire’s power into me so I could use it when the time came. So, they adopted me, seeing I needed a home and to keep anyone from knowing about my powers and the legacy of the Righteous Fire. Father talked to Grandpabby about my powers, and he said they would kind of go away over time if I didn’t use them. But a part of me would always have them. So, to keep me safe from anyone still mad about the Righteous Fire, and because I needed a family, they took me in and had Grandpabby cast a spell over Arendelle so no one would remember who I was or where I came from besides Father and Mother.”  
A silence hangs over the room as Anna finishes the story.  
“Anna,” Elsa breaks the quiet, “I went back to Ahtohallan. On the night of the battle. I heard a baby crying, and I heard Father through fire. I didn’t know what it meant, till now. I want you to know that, regardless of where you came from, you’re still my sister.”  
“I know,” Anna smiles. “And you’re mine. Besides, you’ve thought I was your whole life.”  
“That’s because you are,” Elsa confirms.  
“And that makes you a Skylark,” Anna goes on. She sighs, repeating, “Skylark.”  
“Miss Elsa,” Kai, standing in the doorway, addresses Elsa. “I’m sorry to barge in, but some man downstairs says he needs you to see him immediately.”  
“I’ll be back,” Elsa tells Anna. “Don’t go anywhere.”  
“I really can’t,” Anna replies.  
Elsa goes downstairs and opens the gates to the evening courtyard. Jack stands solemnly, holding a ring, the same color as Elsa’s bracelet.  
“Elsa,” Jack begins, “I love you, and this whole apocalypse made me realize that I can’t live without you. I want us to be together forever. Will you marry me?” He gets down one knee.  
“Depends,” Elsa responds sarcastically. “Kristoff, what do you think?”  
Kristoff looks up, surprised. He is playing chess with Olaf against Sven in the corner. “Wait, what?” Kristoff never expected to be called on like that.  
“Should I marry him?” Elsa asks again.  
“Well, Jack and I would be brothers,” Kristoff tries to convince Elsa to say ‘yes.’  
Elsa turns to face Jack. “Yes,” she says, running to her fiancée. Jack puts the ring on the finger that all rings go onto and they kiss.  
“Welcome,” Olaf begins dramatically, “to the beginning of the rest of your life.”  
“I like how you said ‘life’,” Jack compliments Olaf.  
“And if this is the beginning,” Elsa tells Jack, “then we’ve got the perfect life ahead of us.”  
“What’s going on?!” Anna calls from an open window.  
“She said ‘yes’!” Jack yells back.  
Anna shrieks. “Let me see the ring!”  
“I’ll be back,” Elsa tells Jack, running into the castle.  
*~*~*~*  
The moon shines over Arendelle. Every room in the castle is full of beds for people to sleep in. Most are asleep, except in one room, where two are wide awake. Anna and Kristoff are sitting up in bed, eating dessert.  
“I didn’t know you could cook,” Anna tells Kristoff, as she finishes the last bite of pie.  
“Just a little recipe I had saved for the right occasion,” Kristoff says.  
Anna giggles.  
“Kristoff,” she begins, “I think you picked the perfect occasion.”  
“Well, yeah,” Kristoff agrees. “We just won a huge fight, Elsa and Jack are getting married, and we’re all going to be okay. How’s your leg?”  
“Good enough,” Anna confirms. “Just, like, six or seven weeks and it’ll be good as new.”  
“You know how we say we’d die for each other?” Kristoff asks. “I didn’t think we’d really have to go through with all that.”  
“No kidding,” Anna agrees. “But I’d do it all again.”  
“Me, too.”  
They kiss, not really passionately, but more of a good night kiss.  
“’Night, Anna,” Kristoff says, rolling over to sleep.  
Anna lays down on her back, looking up at the ceiling. To the tune of “Reindeers are Better than People,” she sings quietly:  
“For the first time in forever,  
I can sleep, and I’m safe and sound.  
With Kristoff and Elsa,  
Sven, Jack, and Olaf.  
It feels like all is found.”  
*~*~*~*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment with your likes/dislikes about my fanfic. I've got other post-Frozen II fanfic if you want to see it, just let me know in the comments!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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